The Life of Another
by tragicmat1
Summary: During the fight with Madara, the power of the Bijuu erupts. Naruto and Gaara finds themselves back in time, in each others body!
1. Prelude

"Just a little bit more time."

After years of planning, Uchiha Madara can finally see the end of the finish line. Just two more days, two more days and all nine Bijus will be sealed. When Pain was defeated, it took a while for Madara to find a suitable candidate to synchronize with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. With the destruction of Konoha, he manages to convince Uchiha Sasuke to fill in the hole. While the sealing process was not as refined as before, it did it's job. His job was made indefinitely easier as well when Uzumaki Naruto rushed towards their hideout in a futile attempt to "bring back Sasuke!" If only the sealing process went by a little quicker…

Deep within his thoughts, Madara did not notice a thin veil of sand wrapping around the Demonic Statue. (There's not much a projection can do anyways.) It was then a sandstorm started blowing and a distinctive shout could be heard.

**Sabaku Soso! **(Imploding Sand Funeral )

"Do you really believe that your puny little sand could crush the demonic statue? It was made to withhold the greatest of all demons." Madara calmly said, until, a slight crack could be heard. Twisting his head so fast that he might've broke his neck, Madara's eyes went wide in shock as a thin line shaped like a lightning bolt could be seen across the statue.

Quickly taking advantage, Sabaku no Gaara sent sand through the crack and into the statue. He planned on causing the statue to explode from within. To Shukaku inside the statue, however, the incoming sand was like a breath of life to him. With sand he rule, and with sand his power emerges. Shukaku focused all his energy and life essence into the sand and followed the stream of sand back to where it originates. (He had hoped that it would lead him back to the ground.) Little did he know, the sand would transfer him from one prison to another. Back inside the seal of Gaara. The other bijuu, seeing Shukaku escape, decided to follow promptly. Anything is better than being trapped inside that demonic statue. With that, the remaining 7 bijous and portions of the Kyuubi's power rushed out of the crack and back into the world.

Madara was angry, no far beyond angry. There was no way the demonic statue should have been broken. He glared at Sasuke. It was his incompetence that has caused this. He could not sync properly with the demonic statue causing this catastrophe. Years of work has been drained and it will take years to get back what he lost. A soothing thought was he had years to spare, so it wasn't all too bad. Still annoying though. "Sasuke, are you going to continue to stare at that statue or will you get your incompetent ability back together and stop these intruders?" Madara angrily asked.

For the first time in many years, Uchiha Sasuke felt fear. The killing intent of the 9 Bijuu put together was nothing to laugh at. He couldn't even move a muscle. What the heck was he suppose to do against 9 monsters? Amaterasu all of them? Well, there's an idea.

**Amaterasu!**

With that, black flames erupted across the cave in an attempt to burn Gaara. It was far too slow however against Gaara's sand defense. Between the black flames, escaping Bijuus, and Madara's yelling, however, the cave started to collapse from the violent forces that spread throughout. Uzumaki Naruto was still unconscious from having a good amount of energy being drained from him. In order to save his friend, Gaara rushed towards Naruto and made a quick sign for a long distance **Suna Shunshin**. Normally this would've drained about 90 percent of Gaara's chakra. Unbeknownst to him, the power of 8 bijous were erupting inside of him causing the tiny seal made to contain Shukaku to melt. The influx of chakra caused an event that will change history.

With that, Gaara and Naruto drifts off into unconsciousness…


	2. Chapter 1

"Is he ready for the sealing process?"

"Yes Kazekage-sama."

"Good, this is for the good of Suna. It must not fail!" replied the Kazekage as he loomed over the doctors with his ever calculating eyes. "Bring Chiyo here now."

A bright light explodes throughout Naruto's vision as he slowly open his eyes. "Is this heaven or something? It sure stinks here if it is." Peering around, he notices a small tea kettle floating atop of him, swirling with malevolent chakra. Turning around, he sees a short old women staring straight back at him. That froze him in his tracks "Wait! That's Chiyo-Obasan! She died already though… O wait, that's right, this is heaven. Duh. Urgh, I wish I can move around. Only my head seems to be functional."

Turning over to the other side, he notices a woman tied to a chair with some sort of seal all over her body. She looked frail and tired and her hair was just everywhere. Naruto's eyebrows scrunched up together, "Is this really heaven? Cause that's just messed up"."

Chiyo watches the tiny baby in front of her with a saddening glint in her eyes. She was the only one in Suna capable of sealing the One Tail Shukaku and the Kazekage naturally asked her to do the honors. Chiyo was no fool, she knew what she was condemning this baby to. A future as a weapon and loneliness that can only be surpassed by other jinchuuriki. But, orders are orders, and she'll be damned to sacrifice her life to save a baby that will probably be turned into a jinchuuriki regardless, probably through a less capable seal master and definitely one with worse chakra control.

Focusing her Chakra on Gaara's shoulder, she began the sealing process. A quick glance to Gaara's mother shows her mouthing "Damn you". Sighing sadly, she redoubled her focus to make sure this sealing process goes as smooth as possible.

- As Naruto prepared to turn back towards Chiyo to ask for questions, pain erupts throughout his body. The only time he ever felt this much pain was when Kyuubi was being extracted from him. It makes no sense at all! This was suppose to be heaven. There's no way someone who sacrifice their life to save somebody would end up in hell, right? With that thought, Naruto slowly drifted back to unconsciousness…


	3. Chapter 2

Gaara woke up with a startle to the oppressive killing intent in the air. Shaking his head, he wondered what was happening last. Oh yea, fight with Sasuke and Madara, that would explain this situation. In an attempt to move, Gaara looked at himself to shocking horror. Short stubby legs, tiny- you know-and short arms that can't seem to move. Looking up, he notices a pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan staring right at him. Uchiha Madara.

"Release Naruto!" cried the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. The corpse of twenty Anbus littered the ground. It was repulsive, but that must wait till after Naruto was saved.

"Why should I? He's obviously a hostage. How about a trade? Little Naruto here for Uzumaki Kushina. I promise I won't harm him if this goes well enough" smirked Madara. Well until Kyuubi get's released anyways. All I need t o do is get my hands on that seal…

"I'm right here," murmured Kushina.

**Hirashin no Jutsu(Flying Thunder God Techinique)**

Catching Madara distracted, Minato flashed over to the seal he placed on Naruto and quickly teleported back to where he was standing moments ago. Unfortunately for him, that was all the time Madara needed to plunge his hand over the seal, calling out the Kyuubi no Yoko from the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. With that, all hells broke loose.

Gaara blinked when he found himself being carried by a Naruto clone, or at least very closely resemble Naruto. His golden hair was longer, reaching past the bottom of his chin. The clear blue eyes were the same, although more hardened. The whiskers mark were not there, and his fashion sense was obviously superior. And whatever jutsu he just used was nothing short of amazing.

"Well, my goal was accomplished. Farewell, Yondaime Hokage. I hope Konoha won't be too destroyed after this. After all, that's something I'd like to do with my own hands. Well, not that it matters that much." Without any sound or traces, Uchiha Madara disappeared into the night.

"Kushina, are you ready for this?"

"Whenever you are darling." With that, multitudes of Chakra chains erupted from the red headed woman's body. The Kyuubi roared in fury when finding itself restrained. With a wink, Kushina said "I'll see you later honey."

"Hai."

**KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU (Summoning Technique) **

A large poof of smoke revealed Gamabunta, the armored frog boss with a pipe sticking out his mouth. Squinting his eyes, Gamabunta chuckled "Well, you couldn't have found me a tougher opponent. I swear, this will be the first and only time I'm going to fight a Bijuu."

Gaara found a gust of wind blowing hard against his face as the man jumped up to the top of the giant frog. In front of them stood the Kyuubi no Yoko, restrained by thousands of chains. To make everything more terrifying, he could barely move. He did the only thing his body seemed capable of doing, crying as loudly as possible against this helpless situation.

"Don't cry Naruto. I'm sorry this must happen to you, but remember, I'll always be with you. Oh, your mother too." After quickly drawing the seal array on Naruto's belly, Minato mustered up a great deal of Chakra to teleport everyone, including Kyuubi, to an area away from Konoha.

"Seal the Kyuubi in me now. I don't have much strength left and the Kyuubi will die with me." said Kushina desperately.

"No. I'm going to use Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) and seal Kyuubi in Naruto," replied Minato.

"But then you will die too! And Naruto, you know a life as a Jinchuuriki will not be a pleasant one. Please, just seal the demon in me." pleaded Kushina.

"I believe Naruto will become the Child of Prophecy that Jiraiya-sensei has always talked about. He will need the power of a Bijuu to defeat Madara. I'm sorry…"

Forming eleven quick seals, Minato cried out "SHIKI FUIJIN!" Behind the blond Hokage, a transparent apparition appeared. The Kyuubi instantly realize what it's fate was going to be and lashed out it's claws at Naruto.

Noticing this, Kushina and Minato both ran in front of Naruto to bear the brunt of this attack.

"Nobody hurts my son you giant Furball!"

"I'm the great Kyuubi no Yoko! I will not be sealed again. ARGHH," it cried out as the Shinigami's sword started to pull out it's soul and Chakra.

A burning sensation rippled through Gaara's body as the Kyuubi's chakra started be sealed within him. This felt just like when Shukaku was being pulled out of him by Akasuki. A red glow surrounded his body and swirled around as it got sucked into the spiral seal on his belly. The tiny body did the only thing it could to combat the pain, shutting off the brain until further notice.

By this time, Sarutobi Hiruzen, former Sandaime Hokage made it down to the battle field. He rushed over to Minato that had his hands out around a small sphere of red chakra and looked very much in pain.

"Sarutobi-sensei, it looks like your going to have to take up the mantle for Hokage again. Gomen. Make sure the village sees Naruto as a hero that protected us all from the Kyuubi…" With that, the Yellow Flash of Konoha is no more as he accompanied the other half of the Kyuubi's chakra down to the depths of the Shinigami's stomach.

- Author's Notes

I'm really happy I got some people to add my story to their subscription and stuff ^^ It motivated me to write this chapter immediately. Anyways, this is my first fan fiction so I know my chapters are kind of short. But hopefully as I get into this more I can start producing longer chapters. On an other note, I know there are a lot of Beta- Readers on this site. I'm not really sure how that whole process works but if somebody wants to explain it to me or even become my beta- reader, I'd appreciate it. Until then, I'll just publish whenever I finish a chapter and hope people don't yell at me for grammatical issues. (I'm not very talented in that aspect) Anyways, I'm happy I got these first 3 chapters done as they honestly weren't that much fun (As most of it was just sticking to Canon facts and adding a tiny twist that Naruto/Gaara swap spots. Not that they can even do anything besides turning their heads!) I probably will include a two year time skip after this chapter. I don't really want to write about diaper experiences and trying to hide the fact they can comprehend speeches already. If I just start them training at two or something, they'll just be considered geniuses J


	4. Chapter 3

**Time Skip - 2 years**

It's been two years since I've been in this body. I must confess, these have been the worse two years of my life.

FLASHBACK

"_What the hell is going on?" thought Naruto. The last thing he remembered was immense pain and Chiyo-Obasan. Able to move properly now, Naruto found himself staring at a tiny body with short tiny stubs that can barely be classified as limbs. No way… _

"_How's Gaara doing?"_

"_The seal looks stable and he just woke up."_

"_Good, I'll leave him in your care for a little longer until you deem him fit to leave the hospital."_

"_Hai, Kazekage-sama."_

_Gaara? Is Gaara here? That makes no sense though, did Suna get a new Kazekage? Not to mention this body, I can't even move or push myself up for longer than a few seconds. I wish somebody would tell me what is going on._

"_Hi Gaara." A young brown haired main said as he walked into the hospital room. White robes that smelled like alcohol and strawberries fluttered around him. "I'm going to put on your first diaper now."_

_O hell no. Naruto wanted to scream and tell him he doesn't need diapers, but all that came out was a cry out of the undeveloped vocal boxes. Wait, did this guy just call me Gaara? There's definitely nobody else in the room. Argh, that just made everything even more confusing._

"_Hey, don't cry now. It's just a diaper, it won't hurt you." said the man as he expertly slips on the diaper onto Gaara. "There, now that wasn't so bad right? Although, next I have to give you some immunization shots. Oops, I should've done that first, now I have to take off the diapers again." As the doctor took the syringe up to Gaara's butt, a swirl of dust wrapped around his hands. Inside the hospital, however, the room's are kept clean and the dust is almost unnoticeable. *Poke* _

"_OW!" That hurt. I hate shots, I hate the hospital, I hate creepy doctors, I hate this body. A stupid needle hurt THAT much. There's no pain tolerance at all. And, god damn it, I have no control over my tear ducts as well. Just great. _

End Flashback

*Shudders* I don't even want to think about how long it took me to get out of diapers. Poop just come out without me noticing until I smell it. Definitely the worse two years of my life.

In any case, I wonder what caused Gaara to go all psycho like he did in the Chunin Exam. The villagers all seem really nice to me, especially uncle Yashamaru. Although, he seems kind of uneasy sometimes. In any case, ever since I unlocked my chakra, this automatic defense seems to have started to kick in. Otousan seems quite eager to teach me how to become a shinobi. Well, I guess I was born to become a weapon right? Not that I mind though, from what I see, I went back in time as well and any help against Akasuki is welcomed by me.

- Meanwhile, in the Kazekage office, Gaara's father was thinking up a training regime for his son. He had explained to Gaara three days ago the concept of Chakra and how to search for it. It was SUPPOSE to give Gaara something to do for the next three or four months before he has to move onto the next phase of training, but it only took him three days to successfully mold some chakra. THREE days! Even normal prodigies takes at least one to two months to access their chakra.

Pulling out the records of previous Shukaku jinchuurikis, there we no mention of them finding their chakra easier. Looking further into the early entries, an unsettling news send a shiver down the kage's back.

_It seems to be impossible for the sacrifice to fall asleep without Shukaku manifesting through the weakened barriers. If a force sleep jutsu was activated on the Jinchuuriki in enemy territory, it will likely rampage until the host can take no further strain. _

That's somewhat weird. So far, Gaara have shown no signs of releasing Shukaku in his sleep. Well, maybe that monstrous snore is Shukaku's, but nothing dangerous. Perhaps having some Anbu patrolling Gaara's house when he slept would be a good idea.

"Hey Temari! Can you take me to the Weapon's store?" asked Naruto. He was perfectly able to go on his own, but the store keeper wouldn't allow a 2 year old kid to walk in. Temari, at age 5, is already studying at the academy and is entitled to go to any store she please. Although, explosives are still prohibited.

"Sure. What do you need to buy though? We have plenty of kunai and shuriken." Temari walked over to her little brother raising an eyebrow.

"Um, I wanted some Chakra testing papers to see what elemental affinity I am." replied Naruto sheepishly.

"Oh please, we don't train elemental affinities until the third year at the academy. There's no way a squirt like you needs to know what your affinity is yet." laughed Temari.

"I just want a head start, besides, you could go buy some for yourself too right? Wouldn't do good for the princess of Suna to be behind everybody." pointed out Naruto.

"Fine, fine. Pack up your stuff and we'll leave in 10 minutes. If your not ready by then, I'm leaving myself." replied Temari as she took out her wallet and placed it in one of the hidden pockets on her skirt.

The sun was shining brightly through Suna's streets. A small lingering cloud of sand is spread out amongst the village after a nearby sandstorm picked up a couple hours ago. Children are playing ninja in parks, while the real men jumped around the dunes. Towards the center of the village, the streets are populated with hundreds of villagers and ninjas. Everything from the meat vendor to the brothels are lined up into different buildings. At the edge of the street, a round building with a sign that said "Mezuki's Weapon House" caught the eyes of two young ninjas.

"Welcome to Mezuki's Weapon House, everything you need can be found here. If you need any help, feel free to ask!" said the cashier robotically at the sound of the bell when the door was opened. Glancing down, she saw two young children walking in. "I'm sorry, but this store is restricted to ninjas only. Those still studying at the academy needs to bring in a parental consent form."

"I'm the Kazekage's daughter and I need some Chakra testing papers. My little brother too," said Temari as she proceeded to ignore everything the cashier said a minute ago.

"Still, you two are far too young to be training your elemental affinities. Perhaps come back a couple years from now and you should be ready."

"My FATHER asked me to get some chakra testing papers as he will begin our training in it soon."

"Oh! I'm sorry for questioning. I'll go get them right now." The cashier hopped out of her chair to a nearby aisle, picking up two small white sheet of paper. "Here you go. To use it, you just need to pour some Chakra in it. If your wind type, than it will split in half. Earth, Fire, Lightning, and Water will turn to dirt and crumble, burn up, crumble, or become damp respectively. It'll be 400 ryou please."

"Temari…" whispered Naruto.

"Shh," answered Temari with a wink.

Grabbing 200 ryou from her pocket, Temari quickly dropped the coins onto the counter. Looking down at Gaara, she saw him looking at her with the cutest eyes imaginable. "Don't you have money? It's 200 ryou. Pay up!"

"But I didn't bring any money! Could you pleeaaaase buy it for me? Please?" begged Naruto.

"Urgh, fine. But this isn't happening again." grumbled Temari.

"Thanks!" _YES! She's as easy to trick as Iruka. Puppy eyes no Jutsu, Success!_

Frolicking back towards their house, Naruto couldn't wait till he tested out his affinity. It seems being back in a little kid's body dropped his maturity level just a little bit.

The Sand siblings lived in a rather big complex for three young children. They lived in a separate building from their father, but close enough regardless to reach him within a minute. The interior is coated with an unnatural amount of sand (more seems to come in every time Gaara enters the house). A single window at the top of the building provided most of the light necessary for the day.

Sitting in a small training field in the back of the house, Naruto giddily imagine what kind of affinities Gaara had. As he was about to channel some Chakra, the paper was snatched up by Kankuro.

"Oi! What are you doing. That's MINE!" yelled Naruto.

"Cheh, you don't need this you idiot. If anything, I'm the one about to enter the academy. Your still a two year old baby." replied Kankuro smugly. As he said that, he quickly channeled his own Chakra into the paper. Frowning that nothing was happening, he tried again.

"HAHAHAHAH! You don't even have an affinity. What a loser." laughed Naruto as he fell down rolling on his back.

Turning completely red, Kankuro threw the paper as hard as he could at Gaara. It floated pleasantly fast. "Here have your stupid paper back. It's probably defective anyways. If it wasn't, I doubt you would have any affinities you baby."

Snatching the paper, Naruto channeled some of his Chakra into it. Smiling as he saw the paper split in have and then proceeding to crumble into dust, he said "Looks like I have two affinities. Too bad I can't share any with you. Sorry Kankuro-nichan"

Turning away in embarrassment, Kankuro replied "Who cares? I'll become an awesome Ninja without elemental jutsu. Just you watch."

"Ok, ok. Go be the puppet master your destined to be."

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I wanted to be a puppet master."

"Mmm, call it a hunch," smirked Naruto. Life was great as Gaara. He never really had any family before, and having siblings were a great change. He wondered what turned Gaara into such a crazy guy with such awesome siblings, but hopefully he wouldn't need to find out. As of now, he can enjoy life to it's extent. It's not like Akasuki will attack for another 11 years anyways. Plenty of time to train and kick butt.

Author's Note

I'm still debating whether I should make the story go back and forth between Naruto and Gaara or stick with a more Naruto-centric. I think I'm leaning towards the Naruto-centric but still change perspective. Meaning, I'll cover Gaara's life, but not as in depth as Naruto. But, it will definetly be back and forth between two points of views until later on.


	5. Chapter 4

**In Konoha**

"Naruto, hurry up and clean that table!" cried out a massive woman with a dirty piece of white cloth around her black curly hair. Her polka dotted apron waved around as she moved around the orphanage.

"Hai, Anna-sama." said Gaara. It's almost been a year since he started living in this orphanage. It was a good change too, before it was just moving from hospital to hospital. The daily diagnostic tests were NOT something that he looked forward to. I mean, are they really that scared the Kyuubi will just pop out one night? It was until last October they deemed him "safe" to mingle with the general public.

Chores has become a habit for Gaara - he never had much free time for anything else. He always thought that he had it bad as Suna's weapon, but Naruto's life was just torture. The first day he walked on the street, he got punted across the street by some stupid civilian that either can't tell the difference between the jailor and the demon or one that simply did not care. Of course, Konoha Anbu grabbed the man almost instantly after that and he was never seen again. Like wildfire in the forest, everybody became aware of Naruto's protection and settled for simple glares every now and than. Life was definitely terrible.

"Hokage-sama wants to see you today, Naruto," said Anna. "Don't you dare embarrass us."

"Ok, when should I go meet with the Hokage?" asked Gaara.

"In an hour or so. Be there early, and get into clean cloths. Don't forget to finish the dishes before you go."

"Hai, Anna-sama."

Anna smiled at the little blond whiskered boy. For a two year old child, he is surprisingly very mature. He never forgets to add -sama to her name and does all the chores without complaint. At first, she forced him to do the chores out of spite and -container or not- he was kind of the reason why there were so many orphans in the first place. Now though, it'd be far too much effort to get any of the other kids to do the chores when asking Naruto is just so much easier. If only the rest of these kids were this mature…

Changing into a small white T-shirt and blue shorts, Gaara started to stroll over to the Hokage tower. The small silver coin he always kept attached to himself shimmered as it reflected the light of the bright sun. It still amazes Gaara at how enormous everything appear to be when you only stand a little taller than two feet. The giant red tower in the middle of the town was especially impressive.

Opening the giant wooden doors, Gaara said "I'm here for my appointment with the Hokage, secretary-san."

"Ah yes, right on time Naruto-chan." replied the secretary. "Just go up the stairs and it's the two big wooden doors on your right."

"Thank you." Making a quick bow, Gaara quickly hopped up the staircase towards the Hokage's office.

Examining the layouts of the tower, Gaara realized how magnificent Konoha's security is. "There's seems to be some security device that checks the chakra of everybody that walks up these stairs. Any intruders will alert the Anbu or Hokage before they even get close to anything important. Amazing," Gaara muttered to himself. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't even realize he entered into the Hokage's office and was about to face the most powerful man in Konoha and possibly most of the elemental countries.

"Good evening, Naruto-kun." said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Making a quick bow, Gaara replied "Good evening, Hokage-sama."

"How's the orphanage been treating you? I hope everything is going ok. Sorry I haven't been able to check on you too much, but I've have quite a bit of work lately."

"Good. Nothing special has happened," said Gaara as his legs began to twitch at how mundane this conversation is. Hopefully the Hokage didn't call an appointment just an update on how life is in the orphanage. Walking all the way over to the Hokage Tower is quite a journey, especially on these tiny legs.

"Ah, I see. I'll get straight to the point than for why I called you up here. Where did you learn about Chakra?" inquired the aged leader. "Don't even bother saying otherwise as I've had reports of you using Chakra to have various objects to your body."

Raising an eyebrow, Gaara replied, "Oh, you mean this?" Sticking out his fingers, he generated some chakra and made his silver coin stick to the tip of his pinky. He than proceeded to use his chakra to move the coin from finger to finger until it reached the thumb. "I, uh, just kind of had it happened to me one day and I played with it."

Opening his eyes wide open, Sarutobi choked out "You just discovered this on your own? That's not even possible. Please don't lie to me, Naruto-kun."

"Ok, fine fine. I saw some people using Chakra climbing up trees a couple months ago. I saw them putting their hands like this and started climbing up a tree for a little bit before falling down." Gaara said as he shifted his hands into the ram symbol. "When I focus really hard with my hands like this, I discovered this Chakra."

"That, that's just amazing Naruto-kun. Say, do you want to be a ninja when you grow up?"

"Of course! Then I'll be Hokage one day too!" Gaara smiled as he remembered his friends antics.

Chuckling at the sight of some childhood innocence, Sarutobi said "That's great Naruto-kun. Ah, before I forget, I sent your monthly stipend to Anna already. Next time I see you, I'll treat you to some food, ok?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Oh, could you get me a pass for the library please? The last time I went, they wouldn't allow me without parental supervision."

Scribbling quickly on a blank piece of paper, Sarutobi handed the pass to Gaara. "Here you go, this should let you in the library without a problem. I'm afraid I can't allow you into the shinobi section yet though if that's what you're looking for."

"No problem! Thanks Hokage-sama." Grabbing the piece of paper, Gaara promptly left the office.

"Hmm, he shows so much maturity for just a two year old child. I wonder if it's the Kyuubi's influence. Ah, meh. I guess Kakashi found his Chakra source too around that age. Although to be able to control it like that must've taken a lot of practice. Truly a genius. But still, I should probably call Jiraiya back to check on his seal. It never hurts to be safe." Sarutobi thought to himself as he rubbed his temple. "Why can't he be more like a normal child and just call me Jiji-san or something. So troublesome…"

"Phew! I never knew the Hokage had Anbus watching me like that. I made sure to practice when out of sight from anybody in the orphanage and I never practiced chakra control outside on the streets. O well, I guess that means I can practice more freely now. He seemed ok with my understanding of chakra." Pulling out three more coins, he started spinning them on three different fingers. Truly, Uzumaki Naruto's chakra reserve is just enormous. At the age of two, he is already approaching low genin level. It's no wonder why he can form that many Kage Bunshins later on. He must've easily had Kage level chakra by the time THAT Chunin exam started. It was because of this Gaara set out to practice Chakra control with every chance he got. If he practice control while his reserves were still small and kept his control as it grew, it'd make him a monster in the amount of chakra he can use with Kage level reserves and Kage level control. He shuddered at the thought of how much Chakra he must've had by the time he finished puberty.

Reaching his destination, Gaara took a quick glance at the sign to make sure he reached the library. Despite the magnificence of the Hokage tower, all the other buildings in Konoha looks so similar it was almost annoying. But then again, Suna was much worse in this regard. At least Konoha has some color. Shrugging his shoulders, Gaara covered his ears as he walked in the library.

"Why are you here again!" screeched a pink haired lady. "I told you that you need parental supervision to come here. Now shoo shoo."

Showing the assistant librarian the pass he got from the Hokage, Gaara said "Here, I got permission from the Hokage that I can enter. I don't have parents, remember? I told you that last time. By the way, people behind you are all looking at you funny. I think it's your voice."

Swiping the pass from the blond child, the pink haired lady said "Fine, but don't let me catch you in the shinobi section. If I do, I'll make sure to ban you from this library until you reach the age of six and can attend to academy. Understand?"

"Hai!"

Despite the lack of attention most citizens of Konoha give to its library, it is one of the biggest library in the world. There are three levels of clearance: civilian, academy student, and genin. Any knowledge after that are usually left with clans and families or are imparted down by the genin's Jounin-sensei. The civilian section is by far the largest with materials ranging from cookbooks to metalworking. Those two subjects are also by far the most popular as, well, this IS a ninja village. The novels are all placed in one corner with a shelf towards the front with the best sellers. ( The Icha Icha series were removed after some bickering made by a certain Haruno)

After about an hour of reading summaries of books and peering at titles, Gaara picked out three specific books he wanted to check out. The consisted of: The Human Body, Culinary Arts 101, and Physics Made Easy.

"Is this all you want to check out, Naruto-Chan?" asked the head librarian.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Ok! Here, I'll help you check out a dictionary too. You might need it. These books are pretty advance for a kid your age. Remember, you need to return these books within two weeks. Or if you want, just show me these books are still in good condition and I'll renew it for you if nobody is reserving them. Make sure you keep them looking new or return them on time or I'll personally come down to where you live. That's why we have you fill out your address on the application for a library card after all." The evil glint shimmered in the librarian's eyes.

Stepping back, Gaara replied "Thank you! I'll make sure I'll return them on time."

"Good, or else…"

As Gaara walked out the library doors, he could've sworn he hear some sinister laugh coming out. What happened to the library being a quiet place and all? Maybe that's why it's so empty. Running back towards the orphanage, Gaara rushed to finish up his chores so he can start reading his new books.

_That night in Suna… _

**"I'M FREE! HAHAHA. THESE PEOPLE NEVER LEARN. I'LL NEVER BE HELD BACK BY THAT PUNY SEAL. IT'S TIME TO PLAY!" **


	6. Chapter 5

**Fuuton: Renkudan! **(Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)

**Fuuton: Fuuton Gougi Tatsumaki no Jutsu **(Wind Release Grand Tornado Skill)

The two high powered wind techniques slammed into each other as they battled for dominance. The Kazekage sighed as he glanced around his surroundings. Countless buildings were destroyed, some of them still filled with civilians and shinobi alike. Everything happened very abruptly. It was just another peaceful night, filled with paperwork and sleeping Chunins. That is, until the large spike of demonic chakra pervaded throughout the village. On the east side of the village was Shukaku in all its glory jumping around and swinging his heavy tail. Those that were unfortunate enough to be within the vicinity stood no chance against the oversize bijuu. In fact, the Kazekage was probably the only shinobi that was not on a mission that could handle the sand demon. Flipping through a couple hand seals, the Kazekage called out-

**Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai ! **(Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance)

In loud poofs of smoke, four one eye weasels appeared and raced towards each limbs of Shukaku, cutting them to into pieces.

"**HA, did you think that would do you any good? As long as there is sand, I am invincible. Nothing can stop me, not even your wind." **screeched the one tailed bijuu as his limbs began to reform using nearby sand.

"Hai, it is true I would never beat you if you were truly released, but I believe it is time to wake up my son." replied the Kazekage calmly.

"**Cheh, that's if you can get near me" **

"Ah, so you didn't notice me after all, well, that's too bad." Materializing on Shukaku's head, much to the bijuu's shock, the Kazekage slapped Gaara's head.

"**NO! When did you… NOO! I just got out too!" **cried out Shukaku as he slowly began to disperse, leaving an abundance of sand for future genin teams to clean up.

Waking up, Naruto felt the biggest headache he's ever had since inhabiting Gaara's body. Surveying his surroundings, he was surprised to find himself in his father's arms.

"Tou-san, what's going on?" asked Naruto.

"Look around you and see for yourself." replied the Kazekage coldly.

Bodies of countless Anbus remained motionless around the vicinity. Beneath the rubble of the houses laid the fresh corpses of civilians. The entirety of sector eight was completely destroyed, and in the middle of it all is a large clump of sand.

"What happened?"

"… Shukaku got out." The Kazekage slowly set Gaara down as he headed towards the hospital to give an explanation of what happened tonight.

Going wide eye at the implications of what his father just meant, Naruto stared at his hands. "No way…" he muttered. All this destruction, all these deaths happened all because of him. Falling down on his knees, Naruto finally gave into his tears and put on a visage befitting a two year old child. He cried until no more tears would come out and mourned until the bodies began to rot.

Ever since the "incident", Naruto's life made a complete one-eighty. No longer was he "Gaara-sama", son of the Yondaime Kazekage. He was the demon, the monster that destroyed over five percent of the village's population in one night. His father used a jutsu one him created by a former Jinchuuriki that forcibly keeps the user awake. In addition, he also taught him how to meditate in order to relax the body and keep the strain from building up too much. Despite this, however, their relationship was no longer father/son. The Kazekage grew more cold and treated Naruto more as the weapon he was meant to be. His siblings moved out into different houses for their own safety, leaving Naruto alone in the huge estate.

Naruto, one the other hand, threw himself deeper into his training. Physical training he kept to a minimum - as it was still a growing body- but ninjutsu, chakra control, and genjutsu were a different story. Perhaps the subject he started to focus more so than ever on was Fuuinjutsu. He learned the basics from Jiraiya, but never really bothered with anything besides sealing scrolls and explosive tags. Now, however, he was determined to find a way to subdue that blasted raccoon if it was the last thing he did.

Sadly, Suna has never had a master sealer before - besides Sasori but he became a missing-nin. As such, even the Kazekage's personal library only has sealing technique up to a medium level at best. Naruto would have to try out seals himself and test the results. Hopefully he would have enough chakra to create a Kage Bunshin soon - they are the perfect test subjects after all.

Walking down the streets of Suna, Naruto frowned at the glares he was receiving. Although, they became more like panic looks as soon as he made eye contact with the offender. There had to be a way to fix this problem, after all, he wasn't too keen on being called a demon again after he managed to become a hero in Konoha in his previous life. Speaking of himself in Konoha, he does wonder what is happening to his own body. It would be kind of weird to see yourself.

Suddenly, an ingenious plan clicked into Naruto's mind. It has been a while since he made "Naruto Paint Special Number Two", but it might be time to show why he was hailed as the best prank master of all time. In order for the event to be big enough, it would have to be a village wide prank, leaving nobody out and making everybody happy.

There were perks to not being able to sleep - not including the dark circles beneath the eye. A lot more time was freed up. As a two year old, Naruto needed at least nine hours of sleep before the incident every night. Now, however, two to three hours of meditating was all that was needed before the body was sufficiently rested. Granted, the two hours were VERY boring, but Naruto found use of this time. He figured, since he was meditating anyways, why not play with nature chakra too? Of course, he was not daring enough to test his limits yet and absorb too much nature chakra, but a little snippet of it doesn't really hurt. Not to mention it makes the resting process go by faster when there was nature chakra circulating through his system. All in all, a great use of time.

_Two days later_

Finally, the first batch of Naruto Paint Special Version Two was created. It took a while to collect the materials needed, but everything was very cheap and could either be found or purchased easily. Well, purchased easily when using a Henge at least. This paint had no smell, taste, and even color. At least, until the user applies some chakra into it. That's when it explodes into different vibrant colors depending on how the mixture was created. This paint, if created properly, can stay indefinitely on surfaces until it is activated. After that, it disappears in a couple hours.

"Doo doo doo do do…" hummed Naruto as he happily painted his first house 2 A.M in the morning. He was just going to throw the bucket of paint over the civilians house at first, but then he decided to draw a smiley face as well for some creativity points. In time this project will be completed, until than, he just has to deal with the glares a little longer.

Besides, he needed to brush up on his stealth skills a little bit anyways. Right now he's just paint a civilians house, but eventually he'd have to start on shinobi's houses as well. But, if he could paint the Hokage mountain despite their Anbus patrolling, than he can surely paint a few houses. Not to mention, this paint is version two and is far less detectable than it's version one counterpart.

_Four Years Later_

"Oi, Jiji, I need your help to test something." said Naruto. He stopped calling the Kazekage his tou-san shortly after he got that stick up his ass.

"What is it, Gaara? I'm kind of busy right now and if its not important than just ask Temari or something." It's been a four years since the "Incident". Luckily, nothing of that sort seemed to have happened again as long as Gaara didn't fall asleep. At first he was worried about having an unstable jinchuuriki and even thought about killing him. But these past four years proved that Gaara was sane and would serve just fine as a weapon.

"Oh, I placed a seal overlay over the one holding Shukaku back and I just wanted to see if it worked or not."

"You WHAT?" shouted the Kazekage as he stood straight up, knocking down the chair he was sitting on.

"I placed a seal overlay, now calm down. Geez."

"Your fucking five! I know you've been studying Fuuinjutsu, but that seal is one seal you must NEVER mess with. You should know that by now, or did you forget what happened four years ago."

Naruto winced at those words as he remembered that slaughter that happened years prior, but he was confident in his seal and its not like he can take it off now anyways. "Well, too late now."

"God dammit Gaara, you have to discuss these things with me first. You could've loosened your other seal for all you know. Now take off your shirt and show me what you did. Maybe we can reverse it."

Sighing at his father's stupidity, especially when he knew he had limited sealing knowledge, he took off his shirt. Flaring his chakra, a three point seal appeared on Naruto's shoulder. After that, a complex five point seal could be seen surrounding the original. Naruto almost let out a small chuckle seeing the confused face on the Kazekage.

"Gaara, tell me what you did to your seal." ordered the Kazekage.

"I've been working on this seal now for almost four years now, don't worry so much. All I did was seal off Shukaku's conscience. It's really annoying to keep hearing him say 'KILL, KILL, KILL', you know? Oh, I also added a chakra stabilizer and converter and a little surprise if Shukaku ever gets extracted from me. So yeah, I was wondering if you could make sure I can fall asleep now without Shukaku coming out and all that."

"You, you, you HOW? Our seal masters have been working on ways to strengthen that seal ever since our first Jinchuuriki. Your six for god sakes. I better call Chiyo to check on it…"

"Ok, I don't mind. But first, let's test if it works first! Here's a shock tag. It's linked to the six other ones around my body. I'm going to use Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu ( Feigning Sleep Technique). If you sense demonic chakra, just shock me and wake me up. It's easy, right?"

"Gaara, wait till Chiyo check your seal first. It's too dangerous…"

"Nah, I'm absolutely confident in my work," interrupted Naruto.

**Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu **( Feigning Sleep Technique).

Instantly Naruto's head slumped down. At this sight, the Kazekage almost got a heart attack imagining Shukaku materializing in his office. However, seconds passed and eventually minutes went by and no sign of any demonic chakra is being released. "Maybe his seal actually worked," the Kazekage mused. "Then we might actually have a competent seal master for once."

Seeing no reaction from the redhead at all, the Kazekage decided to activate the shock tags.

"Ow! Shit! Did my seal not work? I made sure everything was correct though. How much demonic chakra did I leak out?" asked Naruto frantically.

"Calm down, I didn't sense any of Shukaku's chakra at all. Your seal seemed to have worked."

"Oh fuck you than. Why did you have to shock me. Can't you just gently shake me and wake up your cute son?"

"Cheh, you caused me enough trouble already. Why should I bother shaking you when shocking you is so much faster and easier? Oh, do these work more than once?"

"No, and it's a good thing I made them one time use too. You'd probably be shocking me endlessly if I didn't."

"Maybe…" whistled the Kage. "Since it seems like your seal is not having any drastic consequences, I won't bother calling Chiyo over. Go over to her house yourself."

"Hai, hai." snorted Naruto. "Oh, I have a new jutsu I wanted to show you before I leave."

"Sure, what is it? It better not do any damage in here."

**OIROKE NO JUTSU **(Sexy No Jutsu)

Gushing out blood from both nostrils, that feared Wind Kage was no match against this jutsu.

"This works every time against perverts. Taking out a kage so easily, it should definitely be A ranked with Harem no Jutsu at S rank." smirked Naruto as he unsealed two buckets of paint and a paintbrush. "This is the last bit. This is going to be great!"

Today was a special day. Once every year, the Kazekage gives a short speech about how Suna is doing and what needs to be done. It's normally quite boring and filled with advice about water conservation and motivational speeches for civilian parents to send their children into the shinobi academy. Everybody not on duty was required to attend, marking the perfect stage to unleash Naruto's prank. Just as the Kage was about to step off the stage and call it a day, the sandy village was illuminated in a bright light. Every single building in the village was either turned pink, orange, or red. Many of them had elaborate designs ranging from smiley faces to detailed paintings of palm trees. One particular house had pervert written all over it with various pictures that caused several unfortunate victims to faint due to blood lost. Even the sandy ground was colored green, something rarely seen in the Wind Country. However, perhaps the most colorful of all, was the Kazekage himself. His short brown hair turned completely white with pink and red sparkles shimmering. His face was colored purple while the rest of his body was smothered with orange and blue. Across his chest also said "I love Gaara." When he saw this, he yelled out " GAAAARAAAA!"

Chuckling at the loud scream, Naruto hopped merrily towards Chiyo's house. It was unnecessary, he believed, but it shouldn't be a bad idea to double check with the person that sealed Shukaku into himself in the first place. Knocking on the door, he waited.

"Who's there?" shouted Chiyo.

"It's Gaara. Open the door please." answered Naruto.

"It's not locked. Just come in."

The inside of the house was modest looking, similar to the majority of other dwellings in Suna. A small table with two tea cup pretty much made up the entirety of the furniture in the living room. Light came from a sky window at the top and air condition doesn't seem to be installed, judging by the heat.

" What are you doing here?" asked Chiyo.

"My dad told me to have you check on my seal. Waste of time if you ask me," snorted Naruto

"Meh, just take off your shirt and I'll have a peek. You know how to flare your chakra, right?"

"Of course I do obachan."

Ignoring the kid's blatant disrespect, Chiyo began to examine Gaara's seal. Everything looked normal at first, until the five point seal appeared. Alarmed, Chiyo asked "Who put this here?"

"I did," answered Naruto while scratching his head sheepishly.

"This is, this is, amazing… Don't lie to me boy. There's no way you could've done this. I don't recall anybody in our village that is at this level in sealing. Who put this seal on you?"

"I told you already! I put it on myself. I just summoned a Kage Bunshin, had it draw on my shoulder, and sealed it. I've been working on this seal for almost four years now, so of course it's amazing."

"HA, do you expect me to believe that? You'd have to come up with a better story than that. Does the Yondaime know about this?"

"Duh, he was the one that told me to come in the first place, remember? Or are you going senile already."

"You brat! I'll show you who's senile. Now come with me, we're meeting with your father." said Chiyo.

"Hai… stupid old lady." Naruto said while only muttering the last part.

As they walked out of the house towards the village, Chiyo's knees almost buckled at the sight of it. "What the hell happened?"

At this sight, Naruto couldn't help but laugh as hard as he could. It took forever to paint the whole village, especially with designs. To finally see its completion brings a smile to his face. The best part is, nothing people do are washing out the paint. Some actually sacrificed some of their precious water in an attempt to scrub it out. Sadly, nothing they do can get rid of the paint unless they burn down the whole building or just wait it out. Since the villagers won't know that the paint will come off automatically, needless to say they are quite frantic. If it wasn't for the fact he wanted to avoid his father's initial fury to his prank, he would've loved to see his face. Speaking of the devil…

"GAAAAARRRAAAA!" screamed the Kazekage. "Get this paint off me or I'll skin you alive."

"Sorry, I can't get it off. It should come off on its own with time though." smirked Naruto.

"I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try, jiji." laughed Naruto before putting his hands into a cross symbol.

**Oiroke: Onnanoko Doshi no Jutsu **(Sexy Jutsu: Twosome Girls Knockout )

At the sight of two nude girls, any anger the Kazekage had was instantly dissipated as he fell victim to Naruto's technique once more.

-Author's Note

I hope that was satisfactory. I didn't really go into abilities too much besides Naruto's obvious prowess in Fuuinjutsu. In any case, he should join the academy soon. (Same with Gaara in Konoha)


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Note

I am confusing myself too much with all the name switching, so from now on, Gaara will always be called as Naruto by the narrator and Naruto will always be called as Gaara. Their bodies have switched for six years, they should be plenty attached to their new names already.

_In Konoha_

"Hiya Naruto, are you finish with the books you checked out last week?" The librarian smiled sweetly at the little blond boy.

"Hai, they were great. That novel you recommended was truly superb." replied Naruto as he handed three books over to the librarian. "By the way, Aki-san, I was also wondering if you can change my status from civilian to academy student. I'm entering the academy in two days and I've been itching to get into that section in the library for years now."

"Mmm, normally I'm not allowed to do this until after your first day in class, but since it's you, why not? Give me your library card and I'll make some quick changes." Naruto handed his card over to the librarian. "Oh, do you want a list of books you will have to borrow from us? The academy always forces the students to get their books here on their own so they get acquainted with the library - and cause they're lazy. You might as well get them today so you won't have to stop by again later when they tell you to borrow some textbooks. You are allowed to these textbooks keep until the end of your school year so you don't have to worry about returning them for a while."

Taking the initiative, Aki decided to just hand Naruto the list before he made a response. "Here you go! A lot of it you should know about anyways. I've seen you read some books similar to these."

Glancing down at the list, Naruto wondered how much time Konoha Shinobi take to train their kids. There were subjects ranging from history to mathematics. The only book that was ninja related was a guide to unlock chakra and basic chakra exercises to control it. Nothing interesting.

"Thank you very much, Aki-san. If you don't mind, I'm going to head over to the academy section."

"Sure, enjoy yourself! I'll gather those textbooks for you and I'll give them to you when you are ready to leave."

"Thanks."

Despite having abilities far beyond what any six year old may have, Naruto did wonder what type of training exercises Konoha may have for their children. A village does not become the strongest by being lucky. In fact, they sprout S- Rank shinobi like weeds. The list goes on and on ranging from all their Hokages, the White Fang and his son, The Three legendary Sannins, a couple Uchihas, and eventually Uzumaki Naruto. That's not even including the numerous Anbu and Hunter nin commanders that stay hidden and are only known through their alias. People in Suna are afraid of the Ichibi, but Konoha managed to defeat the Kyuubi that was free and running around with minimum destruction.

Passing through to the academy section, Naruto looked over the numerous titles along the bookshelf. Most of them were introduction books to get aspiring ninjas to pick a topic they want to learn. One particular title that caught Naruto's interest was the Introduction to Being a Medic-nin. Most of the other titles weren't very special, mostly E rank jutsu apart from those that all academy students were required to learn. It was almost unnerving how lax Konoha's academy's requirements were. The basic twelve E-D rank jutsu aren't in the curriculum along with the vital six. Rope escaping, fire starter, canteen filler are all so essential to being a ninja.

As Naruto started to leave the academy section, one particular book caught his eye. Basic Kenjutsu. Without his control of sand, he must change his fighting style into something completely new. Fighting with a kunai that breaks so easily always seems to be rather stupid, so perhaps Kenjutsu might be something nice to learn. With this in mind, Naruto grabbed this book to add to his huge collection.

Walking over to the counter, Naruto said "I'd like to check these books out please."

Noticing the six whisker marks first, Aki smiled, "Ok, here are the textbook you need for the academy. Can you carry all that? That's eight textbook size books you are checking out."

"Of course, I'm a ninja after all."

"If you say so. One more thing, since you're an academy student now, you don't have to return these books or renew until one month has passed. The academy textbooks you can keep until the end of the school year. Oh wait, I said that already. Oops. I'll see you next time Naruto-kun." Aki, astonished that such a small could hold eight large textbook so easily, waved goodbye as Naruto walked out of the door.

**SCENE CHANGE**

Naruto walked out of the library, feeling content with his trip there today. Holding the books weren't too hard, all it took was spreading his chakra around the books to hold them together. It's similar to chakra strings, but a little more sturdy and a little less flexible. Over the years, Naruto played around with his chakra and manipulated it to do many things. It's not like he could go firing some strong wind jutsu without raising suspicions. As the Kyuubi container, it's better to lay low a little and not worry about fame as much.

Opening the door to the orphanage, Naruto yelled out "I'm back, Anna-san!"

Rather then the massive black-haired women Naruto has become accustomed to over the years, an extremely corpulent man with a scruffy bearded walked out instead. Noticing Naruto, he said "Anna died earlier today. I think she had a heart attack. She won't be coming back."

Hearing this, Naruto's eyes began to water ever so slightly. "You're joking right? Where is she right now? I got this new recipe I want to try out…"

"I already told you, she's dead. Probably some curse from you…" The man muttered the last part to himself, however, it did not escape Naruto's notice.

"When is her funeral," asked Naruto. Tears began to fall freely now as he processed the news. But he did not break down, he remained standing tall and straight, never backing down from the man that dared accuse him for cursing Anna. Despite the tears, he managed to keep a stoic face too. They had become close over the years. Naruto acted almost like an assistant - cooking, cleaning, and doing anything else in earnest. Anna was family, alongside many other orphans. Although, playing around with five to six year olds was always kind of weird.

"I'm the new caretaker, this orphanage is under my charge now that Anna is gone. I will be requesting Hokage-sama to move you out of the orphanage. I know that you will enrolled in the academy already, making you a ninja. We are not obligated to take care of ninjas, and thus I can force you to leave. I'd pack your things tonight, I doubt you will stay tomorrow." sneered the insensitive fat man. He still harbored a grudge towards Naruto for harboring the Kyuubi. He had a baby four weeks old at the time of the attack. Living on the outskirts of the village, he was near enough to the Kyuubi to feel the youki that leaked off it's malevolent body. While they don't do much besides instilling fear to a grown man, the baby stood no chance against it's might. It grew sick after the exposure and died a couple days later. _This is retribution, _he thought.

Not willing to speak to the man any further, Naruto went up to his room that he shares with three other children. That night, he cried himself to sleep.

**SCENE CHANGE**

_The next day_

The first thing Naruto woke up to was a lot of noise down at the lobby of the orphanage. Hopping out of his bed, he pulled on a simple white T-shirt and blue shorts and walked outside. When he went down, he saw the aged Hokage playing with a couple orphans.

Noticing Naruto, Sarutobi spoke up, "Naruto, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Hokage-sama," replied Naruto.

"That's good to hear. You do know why I'm here today, right?" asked Sarutobi, almost dreading the response.

"Hai. If I am correct, I will have new living arrangements due to my coming of age. A better way to say this would be the orphanage is kicking me out." Naruto glared at the caretaker as he said this.

"Why you!…" started the caretaker before noticing the Hokage once more. "Forgive me Sandaime-sama, I did not realize this kid has not been properly taught in manners yet."

Ignoring the caretaker completely, Sarutobi asked kindly, "Shall I show you your new apartment?"

"Thank you." Naruto muttered with a bow.

When Naruto reached his apartment, he couldn't be happier. It was a small place, but plenty of room for a child. Its far closer to the Academy than the orphanage and even has a nearby training ground. It has one room, and the kitchen and living room are merged together. The bathroom is tiny, but at least it's clean. There are furniture already around the apartment, courtesy to the Hokage. They even left some food around for him! They must have realized he could cook, as different ingredients are placed in the refrigerator already. Alongside the cup ramen on the shelf, it's enough food for at least two weeks.

Thinking about food, Naruto once again remembered his caretaker at the orphanage. While in his previously life he's seen death all the time, six innocent years has already passed by. A shinobi are normally forced to dull their emotions towards death in order to preserve their sanity, but being a kid again caused this death to come full force. Luckily, there's always one way productive ninjas use to take their mind off death. Training!

Pulling out twenty silver coins, Naruto placed them around his body one by one and levitated them with his chakra. After that, he started spinning them to improve his focus. After a couple minutes of this control exercise, he begun to walk up the walls of his apartment while maintaining his control on the coins. This was an exercise Naruto must perform daily in order to keep his perfect control on his chakra. He is still growing and thus his chakra supply continues get bigger. The chakra he receives from the Kyuubi also greatly increases his reserves. As he was hanging upside down on the ceiling (a habit of his past life) he pulled out a book and began to read it. It was the Introduction to Being a Medic-nin he borrowed at the library yesterday. Looking at the table of contents, he saw:

_Chapter 1, The basics of the human body, Chapter 2, The organs_… The list goes on for a while until finally the last two chapters talked about the Justus all medic-nin must know. A diagnostic one and the Shosen no Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique.)

The diagnostic jutsu was simple enough, a couple hand seals and it searches the targets system. However, while it's only D rank in difficulty to perform, it requires extensive knowledge of the Human body in order to use fully. All it really does is tell the user where the abnormalities are and nothing else. It's not like using it will immediately tell the user "The kidney is bad!" or "I'm poisoned!". While Naruto may have already read about the Human body and everything else about it, he did not know how to interpret abnormalities shown by this technique. It is explained in the chapter though so that's something to read up on. Shosen no jutsu, however, will take far more effort to learn. It requires the user have good control over their chakra and change it to medic-nin type. It's actually an A rank jutsu, but due to its uses it was allowed in the Academy section. Not to mention they don't really expect an academy student to fully master this technique anyways, and it's good for a medic-nin to start early. At the beginning of the chapter, there was a short message. **Warning: Don't fucking use this technique until you master it through the steps shown in this chapter - Senju Tsunade. **

The steps starts the aspiring medic nin on animals such as fishes first and progressively bigger animals until it can be tested on non-lethal areas of the human body. For the human body, they should be mastered starting with bruises and cuts and ending with internal damage. It could be used for surgery, but that requires knowledge of Chakra no Mesu (Chakra Scalpel) too. That technique probably cannot be accessed to academy students. It is, after all, the technique most medic-nin uses for battle. The only problem now is, where in the world does a six year old child get a fish so he can test his techniques?

**SCENE CHANGE**

_The next day_

The atmosphere was tense, everybody was quiet and nervous about their first day at the ninja academy. Well, besides the sleeping Nara. In any case, the tension was broken up when the instructor walked into the room and said, "I know everybody is nervous, but welcome to Konoha's ninja academy. My name is Iruka, and I'd like each of you to stand up and tell us your name." Gaining a tick when he saw somebody sleeping already on the first day of school, he threw a chalk at the pineapple head. "Let's start with the boy on the right."

"Troublesome, I'm Nara Shikamaru, nice to meet you." With that, he slumped back down into his chair and laid his head on the table.

Eyebrows twitching, Iruka said "Next."

"Uchiha Sasuke" He sat down.

_This class is going to be special, quirks are already being developed. _Thought Iruka. Glancing at the blond hair boy next to the Uchiha, he said, "You next."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet everybody." He ended it with a short bow before sitting down.

Everybody continued on and said their names and introduction. _A class full of clan heirs and the Kyuubi container. Why me? _"I'd like all of you to go to the library today or tomorrow to check out these textbooks. If possible, ask the librarian to show you around the library and look at books you might like. I'm going to write the list of books you need to borrow on the board so please take out a sheet of paper and copy it down." Glancing down at Naruto, Iruka asked, "Why are you not taking a sheet of paper out Uzumaki?"

"I already checked them out two days ago. I know Aki-san personally and she told me about the books I need."

"I see, I'll have to remind her not to lend out Academy books before class starts though. We may change our curriculum. Please double check and make sure you have all the right textbooks, ok?"

"Hai."

The rest of the day went on without much progress. The graduation requirements were discussed briefly along with the responsibilities a ninja must shoulder. A show of hands were taken to ask those that have unlocked their chakra. Most of the children in clans already have, and almost no civilians born. Those that have no unlocked it are given three months time to do so as homework. Chakra won't really be used until then anyways.

When the bell rang and everybody left, Naruto stayed and asked "Iruka-sensei, I have a question for you. Do you know where I can catch some live fish?"

Raising an eyebrow at this question, Iruka asked, "Why do you need one?"

"I'm trying to practice Shosen no Jutsu but I need test subjects first."

Going wide eye at this statement, Iruka coughed out "You're trying to be a medic-nin? That's an A rank jutsu, it should be quite chakra intensive for a child like you. Why don't you start on the diagnostic jutsu first? That's just as essential."

"I've already got a good grasp on that technique. It's not a hard technique to learn and I already read up the signs I should look for. I just need to test the technique now on somebody, but it's not like I can find somebody with internal injuries or poison just laying around I'm ready to move onto the next stage in my training."

"That's, that's amazing Naruto. Tell you what, come back to me in a week and I'll take you to a river to catch a fish. It'll be near a training ground I plan on taking everybody anyways."

Happy that he has a good teacher, Naruto said gratefully "Thank you!"

**SCENE CHANGE**

"How are the students?" asked the Sandaime Hokage.

Every instructor at the academy has to report to their leader about the status of their class every couple of months. They are the ones that notes any psychological issues a ninja may have and notes any potential in the group. Although they don't push for early graduation anymore due to mental instability that may cause - and because it's peace time- they still have to make sure their curriculum can make the best ninja they could.

"There's a lot of potential in this batch of students. It is to be expected though with all the clan heirs in the class. However, Uzumaki Naruto in particular shows tremendous potential," reported Iruka.

Lowering his pipe, Sarutobi asked, "How so?"

"According to him, he already knows the diagnostic technique that medic-nin uses and understand it to a degree. If he is telling the truth, he must've read tremendous amounts of books on the Human body. Today after school, he wanted me to help him acquire some living fishes for practicing Shosen no Jutsu. I'm not sure if he has the necessary chakra control for it yet, but if he's starting at this age he shouldn't have any problems with it later on."

"I see. Iruka, I want you to keep an eye on Naruto for me. His caretaker died recently and I'm not sure what his psychological state is right now. He generally keeps to himself and I don't have the time to monitor him myself. Make sure he doesn't push himself too hard and try and support him if you can. He lives alone right now and I fear what would happen if can't create bonds with people." The Hokage sighed as he thought about the pain the kid must live through.

"Hai. I'll keep you informed of his progress as well." replied Iruka.


	8. Chapter 7

**Sunagakure**

It's been two years since the last village wide prank that became the headlines for weeks. The villager's attitude towards Gaara shifted from one of fear/hatred to a more neutral/wary standpoint. Although, it's not wary because of his demon, but they do not wish to become his next prank target. Gaara took pranking to a whole new level with smoke bombs and rotten eggs. Nobody has been able to catch him either.

So it was on this day, that Gaara was trying out a new prank. It was a trap placed at the entrance to the academy. It activates when somebody enter and unleashes rainbow color paint on their head. Everybody that goes to the academy are generally sleepy at that time and won't pay attention until it's too late. The only problem is, how many people can this seal get before it runs out of Gaara Paint Special Number Three. It was hard to make, but it was a nice upgrade from Naruto Paint Special Version Two. It's ultra light and sticks to anything it touches immediately. Since it's colorless until activation, the ninjas that enter won't notice more than a little pressure on their head. It's perfect.

"Now, everybody take your seat and take out your textbook for Jutsus. We will be teaching you another one of the vital six today. You will have four weeks time to learn this before your grade starts dropping." A tall instructor wearing standard Suna Chunin uniform smirked seeing the reactions the academy students were making. They ranged from frowns to big O's on their mouth. Some were impassive, and … one had a smirk? Getting pale, the instructor remembers what a smirk on Gaara's face means.

"Kai," mutters Gaara.

Right on cue, a bright flash fills the room for a second before leaving everybody with rainbow colored hair. The nicely comb hair complete with wax is turned into a spectacle. Nobody even bothered trying to get it off (besides a couple fan girls), they knew it was useless.

"Gaara, could you tell me why you did this today?" asked that instructor sweetly, a little bit too sweetly.

Being the only one without colored hair, Gaara really had no choice but to accept his punishment nonchalantly. "Oh, well you see, I had this new seal I wanted to try out so there you go!"

Twitching his eyebrows, the instructor said, "Gaara, please refrain from your pranks in the future. Might I ask how I should go about washing this paint?"

"Oh, it'll wear off itself in a day or two, don't worry!"

"Gaaaaaara." The instructor uses the Scary Head no Jutsu, second only to the Big Head no Jutsu for instructors.

Trying to avoid any ramifications that this prank may have, Gaara said "Soak it in Sake for an hour or two, it should wash it off." He quickly left the academy via a Suna Shunshin.

**Scene Change**

_Phew, that was close. I should probably do that more often, I get more training time this way too! _Going toward the outskirts of the village, Gaara summoned about fifty shadow clones. Almost simultaneously, all of them placed a different Henge on themselves. It's a technique that Gaara worked on a lot. Seeing that Shadow Clones is a Konoha secret technique, it would not do well for Suna to know that he knew it. Even prodigies don't come up with forbidden techniques left and right. By transforming them into different animals such as scorpions and lizards, they are completely undetectable. Especially during a sandstorm. It's in these forms Gaara practices Chakra control. It was a big hassle at first trying to figure out how to find exercises for chakra control, but eventually it worked out. Seriously, there isn't a single tree in Suna for the Tree Walking Exercise, and water walking shouldn't even be mentioned. Instead, Gaara settled for walking on walls and staying afloat in quicksand. The bright side is, there isn't a need to search for a quicksand pit as with Gaara's sand manipulation, all it takes is a little chakra and voila! A quicksand pit.

Normally, this type of heavy training would be impossible for an eight year old child, but for Gaara it's different. After the seal was altered, Shukaku's Chakra reserves were slowly being transferred over into Gaara's. As Shukaku's chakra is far less potent than, say, the Kyuubi's, a much higher rate of transfer could be made. In fact, by the time Gaara was fifteen or so, Shukaku should be completely drained of all it's power, leaving it with nothing but a conscious. Add that with his own chakra reserve and hopefully nature chakra, Gaara was truly a monster that would never run out of fuel for anything.

As the clones worked on Chakra control, the main body starts to do some physical exercises and Taijutsu Katas. While the previous Gaara had forsaken his Taijutsu abilities in favor of sand manipulation, doing this would be nigh impossible for Naruto in Gaara's body. He's used to going straight into battle and attacking with Taijutsu, not standing back with his hands crossed and letting the sand do everything. Besides, that's boring. So it's become a schedule for Gaara where during the morning he practices chakra control and Taijutsu, practicing Jutsus in the afternoon. At night when everybody's is asleep, Fuuinjutsu study.

While Gaara COULD sleep right now, he chooses not to. It's eight extra hours a day that he doesn't want to lose. Sure it'll shorten his lifespan in the end, but he doubt he will survive past seventy anyways and he needs to get stronger before Akatsuki becomes active.

The light was out, everybody was in their beds. Besides a few night guards and ninja returning from missions, Sunagakure was quiet and peaceful. That is, except for one household…

"It's DONE!" Gaara yelled out, waking up everybody in the house. Walking out of her room sleepily, Temari asks angrily, "What is it you little brat?"

"My seal, it's done!" Gaara continued loudly, ignoring the fact it was two hours past midnight. Although, Kankuro can somehow sleep through all noises without trouble. "Great, I'm going to get back to sleep now if you don't mind." "No, wait, wait. I want to show you it really quickly. It won't take more than two minutes. I swear!" "Just show me in a couple hours; now, be quiet." Temari held in her urge to just bonk her little brother in the head for screaming in the middle of the night. There is a test at the academy tomorrow for god sakes! "Here, mold some chakra for me really quick," pleads Gaara. Knowing that her little brother won't relent anyways, Temari sighs and put her hands into a ram symbol, focusing chakra throughout her body. Suddenly, Gaara runs up and whacks her with a long brown stick right in her stomach. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Did it work? Did it work?" asks Gaara.

"Did what work? If all you wanted to do was whack me, I'm going to kill you." Temari retorts angrily.

"Your chakra! The chakra I told you to mold. It should've disperse, right?"

"Hmm… You're right, it did. Ok! Now that you did your little experiment, it's my turn now."

Gaara gulps as he looks at Temari. It's like she suddenly went through a growth spurt, dwarfing Gaara completely. Hell, even if he releases Shukaku, he might still be shorter. Her eyes seems to pierce through his very soul, and her hands are reaching towards the wall where an equally intimidating weapon rested. For some odd reason, his so called automatic defense was bypassed completely. Maybe she somehow mastered the ability to hit Gaara with no killing intent whatsoever. Or it might be some universal law that angry women's whacks can always find their mark. He learned that day to never mess with an angry woman at night.

**Scene Change-The Next Morning**

A small trail of sand seeps its way through the cracks beneath the window. Never one to bother with the malicious secretary, Gaara practices moving around like this. Truthfully, the Suna Shunshin looks far cooler than the leaves that Konoha are famous for. Eyeing his youngest child, the Kazekage spoke up, "Shouldn't you be at the academy right now?"

Crossing both his arms around his chest, Gaara replies, "Bleh, it's not like they ever teach anything new. All this talk about elemental affinities and how to train them. I learned my affinity when I was two!"

"Ah, yes I remember that. The time where you almost let Shukaku out again after fainting from Chakra Exhaustion right?" The Kazekage rubs his temple. "A two year old attempting **Fuuton: Daitoppa**. Unbelievable."

"I did manage to get it out though, remember? Anyways, I came here because I needed some more test subjects for my new seal. I tried it out on Temari, but she doesn't have too much Chakra so I haven't tested its limits yet. I figured if it works on you, it should work on most people."

"Oh? What does this seal do? It better not be one of those storage seals with paint in it again."

Gaara smiles as he remembers that scene. "Oh don't worry. This seal is meant to dispel chakra from one's system while they are gathering and molding it," Gaara explains. "I just need you to mold some chakra and I'm going to gently hit you with this stick." He lifts up a black stick with various seals crafted on it.

"What's so special about that? We've had chakra disruption seals since I was a genin. It's nice that you crafted it on a weapon, but most people won't get hit that easily and if they do, it's not that big of an advantage. They just step back and mold it again. If not, then you are probably superior in combat skills and won't need a chakra disruption seal on the weapon."

"That's the thing, father! This isn't a chakra disruption seal. It dispels the chakra. Normally a chakra disruption seal will either mess with somebody's chakra control for a little bit or disperses their chakra back into their system. But this is different, it expels the chakra from the body outside. Meaning if you were molding chakra for **Fuuton: Fuuton Gougi Tatsumaki no Jutsu **or something like that and get hit by this stick, you lose all the chakra you were gathering up to that point with no way to get it back. Also, there's no way to test it here, but I can already imagine someone fighting on water getting hit by this stick and losing all the chakra they gathered at their feet and sinking. Experience jounins might be able to direct more chakra to their feet quickly enough, but anybody else less skilled in their chakra control should sink a couple feet or so."

"I see. I guess it has some uses." The Kazekage replies while focusing his attention on the stack of paperwork he has to finish.

"SOME uses? It's brilliant that's what this is. Can you mold as much chakra as you can really fast so I can test this out? Please? I swear I'll be gone as soon as I get this tested," begs Gaara.

Sighing as he knows there is no use denying Gaara once he starts to beg, the Kazekage answers, "Whatever, let's just get this over with really fast." Forming a ram symbol, the Kage quickly molds a large amount of chakra in his body. "Ok, hurry up and test it."

Smirking as he sees the Kage willingly obliging, Gaara whacks the his father as hard as he could. "Did it work?"

"OW! What was that for. What happened to a soft hit?"

"Yeah, yeah it was a little harder than what I said, but who cares? Did it work or not?"

"It worked, now get out of my office already. Don't you dare show me anymore of your seals unless it's actually useful anymore." The Kazekage dismisses Gaara while rubbing his back.

"Thanks!" Gaara beams when he heard of his success. With a quick Suna Shunshin, Gaara heads off to the academy, ready to receive any punishment for being late again.

**Scene Change**

The day at the academy ended like usual - a bunch of boring stuff. The last time they taught anything special was the jutsu that helps protect one's skin from the sun. Gaara already had his Sand Armor on him all the time though, so it's not like it matters.

While other's may not realize the importance of the Chakra dispelling stick, there was a very vital role it had to play. Up until now, Gaara only meditated to feel the nature chakra around him. He had never dared to absorb it yet though. It was too risky. There was no telling how a new body would react to the nature chakra and there was no old frog hitting him behind his back. Now though, with the help of a clone and the chakra dispelling stick, he could test it out without fear of turning into a statue.

Sitting down cross-legged, Gaara closed his eyes and began to gather the nature chakra. It was very easy to find the chakra after years of meditating and being in touch with it. What surprised him the most was how quickly he could absorb them. While before it may have taken him a good thirty second to get a good amount of nature chakra, it must've taken him five seconds at most to get to maximum capacity. What's better is that the chakra dispelling stick was not needed at all. All that effort for nothing…

Opening his eyes, Gaara welcomed the enhanced senses Sage mode brought. It was a nostalgic feeling, the feeling of being in tune with nature and aware of every little detail. He could sense some people about a mile away in the training ground blasting away chakra, probably some wind technique. He could name how many scorpions and insects was around his vicinity. He could hear rattlesnakes off in the distance, ready to strike at anybody stupid enough to approach it. Once more, he was a Sage.

To test out this mode, there was no better technique than **Fuuton: Rasenshuriken**, his upgraded version of **Rasengan**. It was a technique that required two clones of his to help, one to deal with shape manipulation and the other with infusing the wind element. As two clones moved their hands rapidly around the palm of the original, a small disc appeared, rapidly growing in size as more chakra is being fed to it. Infusing nature chakra into it, Gaara threw the disc forward, obliterating anything that was in front of him. A three hundred meter trench formed as the disc shot forward, before finally settling down to create a huge crater in the sand. The technique definitely did not lose any power.

If there was one good thing about Suna's training ground, nobody cares what kind of damage a ninja does to them. 'They are always void of life and is filled with sand. To be honest, they aren't that different from the rest of the desert with the only exception being a sole sign marking the training ground number it is. In any case, if a sandstorm just passes by, that big hole in the ground won't even be noticed anymore.

Gaara felt content with the results of **Rasenshuriken**. It had all the power it needed. The only aspect it isn't up to par is the creation speed. While he could summon two clones rather quickly, if he could somehow create the technique without his clone crutch, it would only boost his fighting ability. The first step though, was to master **Rasengan** one handed. When he failed to do so back in his other life, he relied on Kage Bunshins as a shortcut due to both time constraints and ignorance. If it works, why bother fixing it? He now knew though that every second counts in a battle. Hell, it would have been useful in that battle against Pein if he didn't have to waste a whole precious second to create a clone for Rasengan while he tried to fit in his attack between the five second window. Another technique that Gaara has been working on is **Suna Bunshin**. It's a skill he must develop himself as the sole sand user. While creating a simple construct of himself is easy enough, making them lifelike is hard. Eventually, he hopes they can blend in with Shadow Clones so that he can train with them without anybody raising suspicion. He'll just do a quick swap and say it was a Sand Clone all along. As of right now, he resorts to having them practicing Chakra control in their **Henge** forms and hopes nobody notices.

**Scene Change**

Temari was happy. She had just completed one of the hardest exercises for Wind Manipulation. As the Kazekage's daughter, she is privy to knowledge most academy students such as her would not be able to touch. In Suna, there are three main branches for wind techniques. The first is cutting. This is usually accomplished by channeling wind chakra and making it as sharp and thin as possible. The second was to control the currents using wind to blow the target away. Temari had just finished the training for this branch and had the affinity to use up to A rank Wind techniques. Of course, it would still take a lot of practice, but it was a possibility regardless. The third branch is almost a subdivision of the second, but due to the complexity of it, most just separate it into a different category. The idea is to create a vacuum by control the air around a person with pure wind manipulation. Not many know about this possibility, but it was said the First Kazekage was a master in this art.

Regardless, Temari was content with what she accomplish. While it is true that the second branch of wind manipulation is the easiest to master, she is far ahead of peers. It had been a dream of hers to become the best wind user in Suna, but that hope was crushed by her little brother. While she spent almost half a year to master pressure manipulation, Gaara had finished in only a month. To make matters worse, he somehow master the cutting property of wind as well. That takes years to accomplish! Baki, a renown jounin in Suna, became so prominent because of his **Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Blade)**. Gaara was already on his way to recreating his own version of that technique. With his Sand Powers, Gaara must be unbeatable.After going into a slump for a while, Temari changed her goal to become the best female kunoichi in the Elemental Nations (this excludes Gaara). In fact, she plans on buying a Battle Fan soon to up her power. With it, her attacks could be a couple more times more deadly - very useful for kunoichi that have low to medium chakra reserves. Gaara could just add more chakra to his techniques. Completely unfair.

Luckily, there's only one super genius in the family. Kankuro she can beat any day. While he could finally control a puppet, it's movements were sloppy and no match for her. To make matters worse for him, he still hadn't developed an Elemental Affinity yet. He always brags about how he will surpass Sasori of the Red Sand, but that monster was rumored to be able to control over hundreds of puppets. There is no way Kankuro will ever be that good.

Packing her belongings up, Temari started to head toward the market. Tonight she will make an extra delicious dinner to try and coax Gaara into helping her out with the first branch of Wind Manipulation. There must've been some trick for him to be able to grasp it so fast, but he won't tell her anything.

**Scene Change: **

It was nighttime already. After an hour long nag from his sister, Gaara finally made up some lame excuse in order to shoo her off.

"_So Gaara, how did you finish up the first branch of Wind Manipulation so quickly?" Temari leaned forward trying to use her tiny sexual appeal to tempt Gaara into spilling his secret._

"_There isn't a secret!" Gaara declared, "I'm just amazing; that's all."_

"_Oh come on Gaara, don't hold back your secrets from your big sister. Just tell me! I promise I won't tell anybody else," begs Temari._

"_Promise?"_

"_Promise," Temari quickly answered._

"_Ok the secret is…"_

"_The secret is…?"_

"_I train at night."_

_A dead silence erupted in the household. Kankuro couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. _

"_You TRAIN at NIGHT?" Temari could barely hold in her frustration. "That's cheating though! You can't just train at night. I know you can sleep so stop wasting your life and train at night. It's not even fair."_

"_Meh, it's not like pure Wind Manipulation takes that much chakra anyways. I'm not practicing Jutsus or anything. I stay up all night and I can use that time however I want." Gaara smirked at his sister's reaction._

"_Fine, whatever. I'll catch up to you even if you do cheat. I'll train at school, I'll train afterwards too."_

"_Um, Temari, you can't do that." Gaara almost looked sheepish saying this, but had a hidden grin beneath everything._

"_Why not? Are you afraid I'll pass you now?" Temari retorted angrily._

"_You'll faint from Chakra Exhaustion," stated Gaara with the most stoic face he could muster._

"_WHAT? You said it doesn't take much chakra. You train day AND night."_

"_Oh! Sorry if you misunderstood. When I said it doesn't take much chakra, I was talking about the chakra expenditures in comparison to my own reserves. You won't be able to handle the strain." Gaara almost beamed._

_Temari face faulted as she heard those words. She turned around toward the kitchen to clean up while muttering, "Stupid Gaara. Stupid Shukaku. Why did I even bother. Life just isn't fair. Remember that. Life isn't fair."_

Gaara smiled as she remembered her sisters reaction. He had to make up that excuse though; it's not like he can tell Temari he learned Wind Manipulation his past life and simply practiced until he remembered what to do. While he does stay up at night, he doesn't really train during that time. Instead, he continues to study his seals. Now that he can use Sage Mode again, he had to find someway to use it during battle. He tested out the clone technique again, and to his surprise, he could create up to eight clones and have them all gather Nature Chakra without losing concentration. It must have been some sort of side effect after the almost nightly exposure to Nature Chakra since he was a little kid. The chakra could flow very easily into him and takes almost no time to find.

In order to up the efficiency he can use Sage Mode in combat, Gaara turned to his Fuuinjutsu expertise to help himself out. Reverse summoning was just far too inefficient and gives the opponent too much time. His newest project was to store a clone into a sealing scroll. However, the clones always disperse whenever the scroll attempted to seal them. It didn't make much sense. He had modify the sealing scroll to a seal similar to one that can hold a Bijuu, but it can't even hold a measly clone.

Once more, Gaara tries to seal the clone again.

**Fuuin! (Seal)**

*Poof* The clone disperse as the sealing light wrapped around it. Gaara sighed and shook his head until suddenly the new set of memory popped in. Apparently, when the clone was being sealed, the chakra it had was absorbed.

Gaara smiled at this new revelation. Now he knew what the problem is. Being lazy and mildly modifying a Bijuu seal was a mistake. He took off the suppression seals and modified the amount of chakra the seal can hold to a smaller amount, but that wasn't enough. Most Bijuu seals are powered by their own chakra themselves. As Chakra monsters, this drain is barely noticeable by the tailed beasts, but a clone cannot sustain after such a drain. Those seals are made to work against those that are unwilling to be sealed and thus require far more power to sustain. In the case of his clones, however, they should offer almost no resistance.

One more time.

**Fuuin!**

This time, the clone successfully went inside the scroll. No more poofs.

"YES!" Gaara screamed out as he gives himself a mental pat on the back for finishing the seal. It took a couple hours, but he completed it.

Behind him, however, a blond woman began stumbling over towards the red haired kid. "GAAARAA!"

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for late update. Just a lot of things going on in life right now. College Admissions, SAT tests, etc. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and give me some feedback!

On a side note, I'd like to recommend a fanfic that I absolutely LOVE. It is probably the best fanfic I have read on this site. At least, one as good as this being completed. The last chapter was updated today and the epilogue should be coming soon. It's a crossover between Familiar of Zero and Fate/Stay Night. If you haven't watch those two shows, I would recommend you watch them JUST so you could read this epic fan fiction. It's just that amazing. In fact, I had to rewatch a couple scenes from Fate/Stay Night just because of this Fanfiction. I'll quote one of the reviewers, "It's the literary version of an orgasm."

So, here's the title and I hope you enjoy this fanfic as much as I did.

**The Hill of Swords - By** **gabriel blessing **

Edit: I lied. Remember how I said just a moment ago that the chapter was updated today? As in a couple hours ago? Well, while I was copy and pasting the author's name, I realize the last chapter came out J I'm off to read it now! Bye :P


	9. Chapter 8

Quick Notes about some facts that I may or may not discuss coming up.

Naruto and Gaara are now both eight years old (in this chapter). I know in Canon the Real Naruto supposedly failed the Genin Exams three times, but I don't know if that's during the same year, three different years, etc. In any case, I have a hard time picturing Hinata being three years younger than Naruto (meaning thirteen) and have her figure. So, I'm going to say the Rookie nine are roughly the same age.

Major Events that happened: Uchiha Clan Massacre. I don't really plan on touching much about this, and really the only thing that will change is making Sasuke even moodier than ever. He probably won't talk too much though :P I think it'd be too hard to make him talk that much without either bashing him or changing his character. He doesn't seem like the type to talk much unless somebody talks to him first anyways.

Anyways, it's time to start this chapter!

**Scene Break**

The academy started and ended without too much commotion. It was the usual physical training, boring history lectures, shinobi tactics straight from the book, and basic chakra controls. All of which Naruto is far beyond the level of any classmates of his. He was rather disappointed to hear that Konoha's Accelerated Training program has been canceled. Apparently, due to the instable ninjas it produced, many thought it would be better for children to stay in the academy longer and have a more concrete psychological foundation. It really was a shame, considering many of Konoha's famed ninjas were products of this program. A quick handful would include Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi, and Uchiha Itachi. The latter is probably what scared people the most.

In any case, it wasn't too big of a deal to Naruto. If the normal education system didn't have much to teach him, than the accelerated program probably did not either. He was, after all, an accomplish shinobi his previous life. There were a couple mysteries unraveled, however. The academy continually preached about teamwork and forced the students to practice teamwork exercises every couple of days. They say this is the reason why they have the highest survival rates amongst the five great countries and putting Konoha as the strongest ninja village. Naruto was suspicious of how true to statement was at first, but the results were undeniable. Konoha's ninja population was absolutely humongous. Before the Third Great Shinobi War, Iwa and Kiri may have came close to the population of Konoha. After the massacre the Yellow Flash unleashed upon Iwa and the civil war in Kiri, Konoha's rank as the best ninja village can't even be disputed. Suna and Kumo has always focused on training quality ninja due to the small population, but without a decent talent pool, it's far to hard to compete.

In addition, Konoha's training regime finally makes sense. Rather than stuffing knowledge into the students, they rely on a self motivation program. With their high population, they don't need such a huge number of cannon fodders that are unmotivated. The academy touches on all the different subjects a ninja might want to work on -ranging from Genjutsu to Fuuinjutsu. There are books of every subject in the library - with low rank information- that academy students can focus on if they wish. Those that are untalented or unmotivated gets kicked out and assimilate into the civilian population.

As for Naruto - being a future prospect of a medical nin- was recommended by Iruka to train at the Konoha General Hospital. With his knowledge and skill, it wasn't hard for him to quickly become a D rank medic and later a C rank medic. As a C rank medic, he had the opportunity to work alongside higher ranking doctors as an aide to help heal different ninjas.  
"Pass me the clamps," ordered the doctor. He was a short man that omitted an air of authority that everybody feels compelled to listen to.

"Hai." This was Naruto's first surgical operation he is accompanying to. Of course, he wasn't doing much besides monitoring the vitals screen and passing tools, but it was an intriguing experience nonetheless.

"Scalpel, please." Contrary to what others may think, doctors at the General hospital still rely on basic tools such as normal Scalpels. While dangerous operation required the unique precision the chakra gives, scalpels were still popular in small surgeries. It doesn't take chakra and was just less work overall. Field Medics were a different story though.  
"Hai." It was a tough job for Naruto, walking around the room, nervous he will mess something up for his first surgical experience. When the operation was finally over, it was no surprise he released a huge sigh. The mental torture was finally over.  
"Good job, Naruto," said the doctor. "That was great work today. At this rate, you'll definitely get your B rank license by the time you become a Genin." B rank license was a high rank of achievement for a medic. This certifies them as a proper field medic and in some cases they can order even jounins around. Of course, these "orders" were more like recommendations that the jounin may or may not follow, but they were called orders nonetheless.

"Thank you, Sensei. It was really tough today for me too, but it was a great experience."  
"Don't worry, everything went great. If you want, you can leave work now and I'll get somebody to fill in for you for the rest of the day. I know how nerve wracking the first operation is."  
"Ok. Thank you again and I'll see you tomorrow Nishimoto-sensei."  
"Bye!" The doctor waved his hands to get the workaholic out of there. It's surprising too, at such a young age, the kid is already working as much as four to five hours a day. True, part of the time he spends for training, but being at a hospital for five hours must have damaged his social life somehow. Such a young kid should enjoy life more and take it slowly. Then again though, he is the Kyuubi container so life is probably everything but normal for him.

**Scene Change**

After leaving the hospital, Naruto did not have any place to go besides a training ground near the academy. As it was, the life of a Jinchuuriki hit at full blast again, leaving him without many friends. At school, the people that are willing to converse with him freely could be counted on one hand : Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura. Three out of those five don't talk much themselves while the other two has reached the pinnacle in the art of screaming.  
Arriving at the training ground, Naruto set off into his daily regime. He found out a while back that he has a wind affinity, similar to his past life. That makes elemental training go by far faster. His chakra reserves has grown at an unbelievable rate and is probably up to low jounin already. He tried out Kenjutsu for a while, but decided it just wasn't for him. The medic-nin Taijutsu style had so much more potential and it was probably better to not spread his time out too thinly. It was after he started his studies of a medic nin he realize how lethal one is on the battlefield. While Taijutsu experts work hard day and night to achieve a strength that can deal fatal blows to the enemy, a medic nin just needs to touch a certain part of the enemy with their chakra scalpel. Even if it's not fatal area, there are numerous weak spots in the body that a medic can exploit. Tendons, arteries, veins, important organs, and even muscles. A cut in the right spot could cause it to become immobile immediately. For a medic nin, every cut they manage to get in gives them an advantage.

**Chakura no Mesu (Chakra Scalpel )**

A blue shroud of chakra enveloped Naruto's hands as he practices his technique. It is crucial that he can form the Chakra Scalpels quickly in battle and attack with precision. It's a delicate style. There are very few Taijutsu Katas for a medic-nin as they revolved countering an opponents attack - similar to the Uchihas Interceptor Style. After all, medic-nins are meant to hang back and act as support, not the frontal tank. Of course, notable exceptions would be the Senju Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin. If you are strong enough, it doesn't matter whether you are up front or in the back.

Another subject Naruto has been reading up on was Genjutsu. In his past life, he never bothered much with illusions, despite the fact every Genjutsu users he faced were always deadly and dangerous. It's not the fact they are hard to get out of (barring cheap Sharingan Illusions), but the fact they take time and energy to get out of. By the time a ninja realizes they are in a genjutsu, mold chakra, and scream out KAI, the enemy could easily incapacitate them. If the illusion is strong enough, it is not rare for them to cause brain damage or throw the victim into insanity.

Of course, Naruto was nowhere near that level and was only studying Academy level illusions. The books he borrowed teaches simply cloaking illusions and some that distort senses. The strongest technique would be **Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique**, and that barely reaches D rank. Regardless, it was a good start and a nice skill to add to his repertoire.

**Scene Change**

Yuuhi Kurenai was a star amongst her peers. She rose through the ranks rapidly and became the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha. She was still a rookie Jounin, but her skills were nothing to laugh at. Many men that tried to woo her due to her beauty would attest to this fact. Her castration illusions were known to send men straight to the mental institutes.

She had just finished submitting a report to the Hokage after her latest mission. As she was walking back home, she saw a young blond kid trying to practice the cloaking illusion. As the Genjutsu mistress, she took notice to this child trying to perform the illusion - quite successfully too in fact. There were not very many Genjutsu users in Konoha; in fact, there are not very many Genjutsu users throughout the Elemental Nations. Most prefer to stick with Ninjutsu for their flashy explosions or pick up some sort of weapon style because swinging a sword looks cool. The only notable clan that used Genjutsu was the Kurama clan and they are nearly extinct by now.

Deciding to talk to the child, Kurenai jumped down into the training field. "What are you doing here?"

"Practicing Genjutsu," Naruto swiftly replied. He had almost perfected the technique.

"I see… Are you working on the cloaking technique?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes, I almost completed it."

"Yes, I can see that. Besides a few inconsistencies around your backside, you were almost cloaked completely. Most children these days don't work on Genjutsu much. It must've taken you a lot of hard work to get this far. Say, how long have you been working on this technique?"

"Well, I read about it yesterday and started practicing today."

Kurenai did her best to hide her shock and asked, "O, really? You must have amazing chakra control then for you to master this so quickly. Look, you already fixed the inconsistency I pointed out just moments ago."

Dropping his cloak, Naruto said "Yes, thank you very much for that input. It's very hard to know if I had the backside working properly or not."

This time, Kurenai accidentally let out a tiny gasp as she saw Naruto's face properly. Six whisker marks adorn his face, spreading across his cheeks completely. She had no ill will toward the Kyuubi kid, but he was always somebody you'd ignore. The "I don't see you, you don't see me" mentality was something most villagers adopted. Of course, unless there was gossip, then everybody would stare.

Not one to lose control of her emotions, however, Kurenai quickly returned to a stoic expression and asked, "I take it you are going through the Academy's Genjutsu guide? How far are you through the book?"

"Mmm, I've worked out the basics to control the five senses. At least, I think I did as I've never really tested them on anybody yet. I am a little stuck in trying to bring out emotions, but hopefully that will change when I can get a test subject."

"If you want, you can try out those techniques on me," offered Kurenai. "I don't have anything to do and it's good to see people taking Genjutsu seriously.

"Really? Thank you so much, um…"

"Kurenai, Yuuhi Kurenai."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Nice to meet you." Naruto held out his hand, preparing for a handshake.

Kurenai smiled at the friendly greeting the boy gave her. One thing was for sure, he was definitely polite. "Ok, show me what you know so far with the five senses. I'll make sure you got those down before helping you with the other."

Acknowledging her request, Naruto created a small illusion of a rubber duck squeaking. "Do you see it?"

"This is a very well made illusion." Kurenai held out her hand to touch the duck. "You've managed to control 3 of the senses too. Can you try to add the last two?"

Creasing his eyebrows in concentration, Naruto made the duck smell like Beef Ramen and taste like it too. "Try licking the duck, I changed its taste."

Sticking out her tongue, Kurenai tasted the beef ramen in her mouth. It was quite an appetizing rubber duck if anything. "Very nice. I didn't detect any flaws with that illusion. If I had to judge, I think you mastered the basics pretty well. Now, you said you had trouble bring out emotions correct? I'm guessing you are trying to work on **Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.**"

"Yea, I tried asking Mizuki-sensei for help, but he said he didn't know nor did he cared." Naruto's gaze shifted downwards slightly.

"Try casting the illusion and I'll see what I can do for you," said Kurenai.

"Ok." Naruto formed two quick hand seals before whispering **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu. **A swirl of leaves surrounded Kurenai, but nothing happened afterwards. "Nothing happened right?" asked Naruto.

"You got the swirl of leaves down, at least." Kurenai winked at him. "I think I know what your problem is. You have to imagine the fear as you cast it. The stronger your imagination, the stronger the illusion. As of right now, you are as emotionless as a rock and just putting chakra into the technique. Your imagination is the key to the illusion. Try it one more time with that in mind."

This time, as Naruto went through the two symbols, he thought about the terror he felt when he had the Ichibi ripped out of him. The fear he felt at the thought of the real Naruto dieing. The anxiousness he felt when he had to protect his village from Akasuki. With another whisper, he said **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu**.

Once again, Kurenai noticed leaves swirling around her. At first, she thought the technique failed again. But as she turned around, she saw Konoha in flames. People were being burned while trapped within heart clenched as she felt fear. She actually wanted to jump out and go help the citizens for a split second before realizing it was an illusion. Flaring her chakra a little, she dispelled the Genjutsu. "That was amazing Naruto-kun." Kurenai was honestly impressed. Just moments ago he was throwing the same technique without any effects at all. However, just now she may have witnessed one of the most complete **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu **ever. She almost shuddered at the thought of how such a young child can imagine such fear and terror, but banished the thought that the young Jinchuuriki was being mistreated. She may have to bring it up to the Hokage however…

"Thanks! That finally felt right too. I could FEEL it did something this time." Naruto beamed at his success.

"Yes, that was great. Just remember now, imagination is the foundation for all Genjutsu. Unlike Ninjutsu where there are techniques ready to be learned, Genjutsu has very few actual techniques. If I taught you some illusions I created, you would never be able to use it to the power I can wield them at. Hand seals and technique names are just for control and concentration. A Genjutsu master would not need either of them. Some of them could put you in an illusion as soon as you make eye contact with them or even through a flick of their finger. Although, I wouldn't recommend you trying that until you can cast illusions perfectly with hand seals. It's much harder to try and learn the other way around. In any case, I must go now and I wish you luck in your studies. If you want, I can come by here every now and then to help you out. But I can't come too often as I am a jounin so I'm not always free." Kurenai declared the last part rather proudly.

"That'd be great! I practice in this training field every day, so if you ever stop by, I should be here. Thanks for your help." Naruto gave a short bow to his temporary teacher.

"Bye!" Kurenai disappeared in a swirl of leaves, thinking how polite the blond kid was. It was about time some polite males popped out. It's almost sad the only one with good manners was an orphan.

**Scene Change**

After training that day, Naruto decided to eat out to celebrate his success for the day. For some odd reason, he felt compelled to eat ramen after the Genjutsu he created earlier. Perhaps it was an unavoidable fate, but on that day, Naruto found Ichiraku Ramen.

"Haiyo! How can I help you?" Teuchi asked the young child as he props himself onto a seat.

"Um, Could I have one beef ramen please?" Naruto just said the first item that came to mind.

"Sure! It'll be out in a sec." Teuchi turned around and started stirring the pot of soup. Business hasn't been that great. It was enough to live off of, but at this time of the day, the stall was usually empty. "Here you go! One beef ramen. Hope you enjoy it."

"Itadakimasu." Naruto broke apart his chopsticks and started placed two noodles in his mouth. The savory taste pervaded throughout his taste buds. The soft noodles had the perfect texture and shape as they went between his teeth. It was a life changing event. It's as if nothing else in the world mattered for that moment besides the bowl of ramen in front of him. This was food fitting for the gods. This was what wars are fought over, life were spilled over. This was delicious. "Seconds!"

Teuchi chuckled at the child's behavior. It reminds him of his daughter, Ayame. It won't be long until she has to start working at the stall full time. He was almost sad to force her to work like this, but Ayame reassured him it was ok. He had no choice; though, he was getting up in ages and needed somebody to take over eventually. Ayame will finish the civilian academy in a couple of months and she didn't pick anything field she wants to go in. Hopefully she won't lost any of her cheerfulness because of this old stall. Turning his thoughts back toward the customer, he presented another bowl of ramen to him. "Enjoy!"

Naruto could not believe such delicious food existed. He had to restrain himself from ordering his tenth bowl of ramen. Next to him, a stack of empty bowls is already piling up. Anymore and he won't have enough money to pay.

"It will be 760 ryou please." Teuchi almost felt bad asking for so much money from the child. But it's not like he's going to give out all those bowls for free. He looks like a smart kid anyways and shouldn't really be surprised anyways.

"Here." Naruto dropped down a couple bills onto the table. He was sad that he had to leave the stall, but one thing was for sure - he will be coming back.

Teuchi just smiled at a possible loyal customer.

**Scene Change **

"Ah, Jiraiya. I'm glad to see you finally decided to show up. I trust that your trip was nice and relaxing?" The Sandaime had long since mastered the art of speaking pleasantly yet adding a hint of iciness that nobody but the listener can notice.

Jiraiya gulped at his Sensei's antics. He knew he was in trouble for being late, and didn't really want to bother trying to make up an excuse. But, anything was worth a try. "Well, you see, there was this…"

"I sent the recall message three months ago, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya sighed and decided to just hope for the best. Maybe changing the subject will help. "Anyways, I tracked down Tsunade-hime for you. She's a tricky one to catch, that's why I took so long. Some of my associates says she is currently at Crater City."

"Good. Don't think you are off the hook yet though," Sarutobi stated bluntly.

Jiraiya decided to distract the aged leader a little bit more. "Why did you tell me to track her down? You know she won't return right now. With her hemophobia, it's not like she would be too useful anyways.

Sarutobi lit his pipe once more as he puffed out "I'm not calling her to get back into active service. Look at these reports and you will see why I want her to come back."

Jiraiya opened the folder and read through the stack of papers. His eyes widened at the report. "This kid, he's a genius."

"Hai, he mastered **Shosen no Jutsu **to a very high level last year and is already ready to take the B rank medic-nin license. The only thing he lacks is experience. However, the most stunning technique he knows is one he created himself. There isn't a name for it yet, but it manages to cause cells to regenerate and split at a faster pace. It is virtually capable of healing any wounds, provided enough chakra is available and if the cells have not reaching their maximum life span. It has been listed as a Kinjutsu (Forbidden Technique) as it will shorten the life span of the ninja this technique is used on."

"For a kid his age to develop such a technique…" Jiraiya was stunned beyond belief. "I believe Tsunade has also developed a technique similar to this. Although, she could only use it on herself as the technique costs too much strain for one person to use on another. She had expressed desires to make it into a collaboration jutsu at one point though. How can Naruto handle it though? While he would certainly have enough chakra, I would imagine the Kyuubi would cause his chakra control to be far below average."

The third Hokage pointed at his crystal ball. "Take a look for yourself."

In the crystal ball, an image of Naruto sitting upside down on his sealing while covered with gold coins could be seen. To make the feat more impressive, each coin was floating back and forth at a constant speed. The blond kid was also reading a book.

Breaking Jiraiya out of his shock, Sarutobi spoke up, "He does this every single day. I've lost count how many years it's been since he started this chakra control exercise of his."

"But… At such a young age too. With his chakra potential, this kid will become a monster."

"Yes, that is why I wanted you to look for Tsunade. While she may not want to come back to this village yet, if we have her make contact with Naruto, I imagine good results will come out of it."

Jiraiya regained his composure and said, "Do you want me to take Naruto out of the village? You know there is no way Tsunade would be willing to come back to the village just to see a brat."

"Yes. I was hoping either you or Tsunade would apprentice Naruto. He is… a bit too mature for a kid his age. Even Aburames don't have mentalities like that at his age." Sarutobi sent a piercing look at Jiraiya.

"If you are worried about the seal, I can tell you for the thousandth time, it is fine, sensei."

"Don't take me for a fool. I learned about sealing while you were still a genin. I know the seal is fine. Sometimes though, I just don't know what is going through Naruto's head. He trains relentlessly every day, but I have no clue for what reason. No sane Yamanaka would ever risk diving into his mind. He's been living by himself for years now. We've had our fair share of insane geniuses already. I don't want to ignore another one in the making." Sarutobi closed his eyes, deep in thoughts as he remembered his former student. He was worried for Naruto. He doesn't have a shred of innocence left in him. His eyes are as dull as most of his Anbus. He had a look of someone who had seen war, someone who has been exposed to the wretchedness of the world.

"I'll see what I can do."

**Scene Change- The Next Day**

Class just started at the academy. A messenger started running toward Umino Iruka's classroom as fast as he could. He had an urgent message after all. With a loud bang, the door was flung open as the new Chunin dashed in.

"What's going on?" Iruka asked.

"I got," the Chunin panted "an urgent message straight from Jiraiya-sama. He wants Uzumaki Naruto by the hot springs right now."

Iruka raises an eyebrow at this. "Why?"

"I don't know, but I need to get back as soon as possible."

"Pack up your stuff, Naruto. Follow this Chunin to Jiraiya-sama. I'll make a copy of the notes for you later if you want," instructed Iruka.

"No time. I'll carry him right now." The Chunin almost screamed due to his impatience.

Naruto didn't really have much to pack, and decided to follow the Chunin without complaining. It seemed urgent anyways.

**Scene Change **

"Jiraiya-sama! I made it within fifteen minutes as promised," declared the panting Chunin.  
"Good. Thanks a whole bunch! Quiet down a little," whispered Jiraiya. "Here you go." Jiraiya discreetly handed the Chunin a book with gold trimmings signed by the author himself. On the front were a man and woman posing in suggestive gestures.

"Thanks!" In a mock salute, the Chunin quickly left the vicinity through a Shunshin. He had bragging rights now.

Naruto watched this entire spectacle with a small tick on his forehead. Perverts these days showed no discretion. "Jiraiya-sama, did you call for me?"

"Ah yes. Hang on one second though. I just need a little more time to wrap up my research for the day," said Jiraiya, without ever raising his head from the peeking hole.

Annoyed by the man's behavior, Naruto muttered:

**Fuuton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)**

A heavy gust of wind blew out from Naruto's mouth. However, rather than the usual blowing straight forward, Naruto skillfully blew downwards causing a strong updraft that was capable of lifting a grown man such as Jiraiya up into the air.

"Whoa!" yelled out Jiraiya.

Now, Naruto never expected the technique to do anything against an enemy of Jiraiya's caliber. In fact, it was just a spur of the moment technique he wanted to use to get his attention. When Jiraiya flew into the air and started to fall inside the women's section of the hot springs, he clasped his hands on his forehead. "What have I done…"

Jiraiya felt the surge of chakra far before the technique was executed. It was a strong technique, for an eight year old at least, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. All he had to do was apply some chakra on his feet and he would've been safe. When he felt the wind blowing him upwards from below however, his perverted side decided to let the technique work and enjoy heaven for a few seconds before the beating.

**Scene Change- A little bit later**

Despite the fact Naruto was sure he saw Jiraiya take one of the largest beatings ever, he appeared relatively unscathed.  
"So, brat, do you know who I am?"  
"Yes, everybody in Konoha knows you are Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin," replied Naruto.  
"Behold, the strongest of the Densetsu no Sannin. The gallant Toad Sage of Konoha. If you ever achieve my greatness, women will go crazy over your beauty." Through a genjutsu that rivaled even the legendary sunset of the Green Beasts, a stage was set for Jiraiya to dance on along with kabuki music playing in the background.  
Naruto decided to not reply. A huge sweat drop went down the side of Jiraiya's face as he continued to hold his palms out while standing on one leg, hopping to get some sort of reaction. Silence ensued with the slight breeze being the only noise.

Resolving with the fact Naruto won't give any response, Jiraiya decided to speak up. "How would you like to train with me outside the village for a bit? I'll teach you cool ninja moves that you won't learn in that stinking academy and show you some of the wonders of the world."  
"No thank you," Naruto replied politely. While training under the legendary Sannin sounded very tempting, he decided it was best not to meddle with this pervert. "I train on my own and can learn like any other academy students."  
"Now, now, don't say that. This is a once in a lifetime chance! I'll even take you to go see the Slug Princess Tsunade. When you see her, urhmm, you definitely won't regret it."  
Suddenly, Naruto decided to reconsider the offer. He never had that many chances to the Godaime of Konoha, and whenever he did, it was usually due to an emergency. Talking to the proclaimed best medic in the world sounded very enticing. "I'll go."  
"Good. Meet me at the front gates tomorrow morning at six. I'll be doing some research till then. Bye!" Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves.  
"Well, this is interesting…" muttered Naruto.

**Scene Change- The Next Morning**

"Too slow!" Jiraiya declared.  
"I'm on time. In fact, I'm five minutes earlier," replied Naruto. Sannin or not, this man was really irritating. "Whatever, let's go. I can't wait until we get to crater city. Konoha is a bit…boring." Naruto could almost see the little bubble forming above his head – filled with erotic images.  
The duo walked outside the gate and traveled toward Crater City at a pace slightly faster than an average civilian.  
"So, what do techniques do you know?" asked Jiraiya. "I got to know if I want to train you properly."  
"The three academy ones, some medic techniques, and a couple wind jutsu," replied Naruto.  
"I see. You're pretty talented to start elemental training so soon. Wind is especially tough to master too."  
"I just started it. I'm not that good with it," said Naruto.  
"Cheh, did you think I wouldn't notice? That **Great Breakthrough **technique you used on me shouldn't have blew me upwards like that. You already started if not mastered advance elemental training. Knowledge that can't be learned by an academy student I might add." Jiraiya stopped walking at this point, fixing a gaze on Naruto. "Who taught you?"  
"Nobody."  
"Just tell me, I won't tell anybody," promised Jiraiya.  
"I learned the techniques myself. They do teach the theories behind them at the academy you know. They just don't show you how to do it," explained Naruto.  
"I don't believe you. A kid like you can't possibly be learning advance techniques like that without guidance."  
"Believe what you want," muttered Naruto.  
Of course, Jiraiya picked up that little sentence the blond haired kid said. It sounded almost like a challenge to him, and he loved challenges. "I'll tell you what. I promised to train you anyways so I'll see if you are truly such a genius in learning new things. Watch closely."

**Kuchiyose No Jutsu**

A large yellow frog, a little taller than Jiraiya, appeared in a poof of smoke.  
"Oi, Jiraiya! It's been a while since you've summoned me. Where's the hot springs?" Gamanobu asked.

"Oh, sorry! That was just a demonstration for this kid here. I'll summon you in two days for some quality peeking, ok?"  
"No problem! Just don't forget to summon me in two days." Gamanobu disappeared shortly after.  
Turning his head back toward Naruto, Jiraiya said "That was the Summoning Technique. I'll give you three weeks time to learn it. If you can summon a frog the size of the one I just summoned just now, then I'll admit that you are a genius and I won't care how you learned your techniques. Otherwise, I'll tell Sarutobi to get some Anbu guards for you until they figure out who's teaching you. I hear there's a certain snake lady that likes little kids anyways." Jiraiya laid out the scroll on his back, revealing five previous contract holders. "Sign this with your blood."  
Naruto became shocked at this action. Summoning contracts were extremely rare. They are usually passed down a family or through apprenticeship. "I thank you for this honor, Jiraiya-sama." Naruto bit his thumb and signed his name.  
"Ok, the seals are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram," Jiraiya explained. "Try it."  
Flashing through the hand seals, Naruto cried out "K**uchiyose no Jutsu! **(Summoning Technique)" A small poof of smoke revealed a young red frog, barely larger than the size of Naruto's palm.  
"Oh! So this is what the outside world looks like," said the frog. "Nice to meet you, I'm Gamakichi." He held out his hand in an inviting gesture.  
"You can call me Naruto." The new summoner held out his hand as well.  
"Well… That was certainly impressive," said Jiraiya. "You managed to summon a frog on your first try. I guess they weren't lying when they said you are a genius." Jiraiya started walking again on the trail. "Let's go. You can practice later if you want. Let's go to Crater City now. Remember though, I won't be satisfied until you can summon a frog the size of Gamanobu."  
"Thanks you for your help, Gamakichi," said Naruto.  
"No problem. Just summon me more often and I'll be happy." Gamakichi vanished in a poof of smoke as he returned back to Mount Myoboku.  
"Oi, wait up!" Naruto ran to catch up to Jiraiya.

**Author's Notes**

To be honest, I hate this chapter. There were scenes I did not place in it just because of how crappy they were. In my opinion, this chapter is an embarrassment. So I will update as fast as I can the next chapter so that hopefully you guys will overlook this. I skipped the meeting Tsunade part. She won't be going back to the village yet anyway.


	10. Chapter 9

**Four Years Later**

"Impressive results as usual," remarked the Kazekage.  
"Thanks." A young red headed child accepted the compliment with a shrug. He has small black circles beneath his eyes and his mouth was curved into an arrogant smirk. He had standard Suna attire on, although slightly more red. However, if one looks more closely, a leather belt can be seen around his waist with twelve seals engraved on it. On his sleeves and grey pants were countless storage and other unique seals.  
"You are finally taking the Chunin exams this year, right?"  
"Yes."  
"I see. I still don't understand why you were insistent on waiting till now for your promotion, but I can't say it was a bad choice. This Chunin exam… might be special."  
Gaara raised an eyebrow at this. Did he make contact with Orochimaru already? While their economy wasn't nearly as prosperous as Konoha, it has been going up steadily. "Be careful."  
The Kazekage was shocked. Why did Gaara tell him to be careful? Does he know about the Hidden Sound? Impossible. "Don't worry. I'm strong you know. Go along now, you just returned from your mission. Rest until tomorrow."  
"Hai." Gaara turned to leave. Just before he left though, he placed a small kunai with an intricate seal on it. "Channel some chakra into that if you ever need me." With that, he disappeared in a swirl of sand.

**Scene Change**

Gaara was worried. It has been a while since he's been to Konoha, but it's still a village he loved dearly. If possible, he wanted to save the Sandaime's life this time around. If he could make sure the Hidden Sand doesn't participate in the war, there is no way the Sound could take down Konoha. Hopefully, he could do whatever he can to prevent the alliance.  
Dazed in his thoughts, he didn't realize he walked toward the training ground he usually uses. On it, Temari was already practicing her wind techniques and obliterating the practice dummies.  
Going for the flashy entrance, Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand next to Temari. "Yo!"  
"Argh! Don't do that Gaara. Can't you just walk up to people like any normal person would?" Temari said angrily.  
"It's more fun like this though," whined Gaara.  
"Cheh. So why are you here? Didn't you just come back from a mission? I don't even want to know what solo missions father sends you on."  
"I just kind of wandered here. I didn't have a specific reason. I could spar with you if you want though. Maybe help you tinker out that new technique you are working on."  
"Sure. No using your sand though. Only wind manipulation," added Temari cautiously. The last time she sparred with no restriction, Gaara kept tripping her with his sand manipulation. Fighting Gaara in the desert was just plain unfair.  
"No problem! You'll still lose regardless," Gaara smirked. 

**Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu **(Sickle Weasel Technique)

Temari blew a huge gust of wind straight at Gaara before he had a chance to react. As expected, a wall of sand came up to protect him automatically.

"You lose," declared Temari while pointing at the wall of sand. "You broke the rules already."  
"That wasn't fair! You know that shield is automatic," whined Gaara. "Rematch."  
"Fine, fine." Temari readied her fan and held it with both her hands. "Let's do this." With a swing of her fan, a huge gust of wind blew straight toward Gaara, lifting up sand and dirt into the air in its path.  
Fuuton: Fuugekitai Kabe [Wind Release: Wind Repel Wall]

Gaara stomped his right foot in front of him while holding onto a ram hand seal. A spherical wall of wind surrounded him, protecting him from the gust of wind Temari sent. Being forced to not let his automatic defense activate was a really big handicap. He couldn't even let the smallest attack get through.  
Temari, seeing the shield holding up against her initial strike did not let up her attacks. She held her large fan further behind her back and prepared her strongest attacks. It was one Gaara hasn't seen her use yet, so it may be enough to catch him off guard for a bit. It was a technique that combines both the cutting aspect of wind and the push strong wind produces.  
**Fuuton: Daikamaitachi no Jutsu** [Wind Release: Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique]  
Gaara barely had any time to react when he saw a huge swirl of wind flying at him. His wind style defensive jutsu could slow this attack down, but not stop it completely before it reaches the range of his automatic defense. To produce his own wind attack would likely cause a backlash that would once again cause his sand to protect him. What's worse, there's been restriction placed on this match that only wind techniques could be used so no regular Earth Techniques. Seeing he was without options, he decided he might as well try out a new technique he had been working on. He had most of the details worked out, except the amount of chakra it required. It was a variation of a technique that was used to make projectiles move faster but creating a tunnel of wind around it. The only difference in his technique was that it's a tunnel of wind enough for him to fit in.  
Temari barely blinked before she realized Gaara had dodged her attack completely unscathed and was standing next to her. "How?"  
"It's a new technique I've been working on. It's similar to **Fuuton: Kaze no Tsuuro **[Wind Release: Wind Passage], except I make the tunnel bigger. It eliminates air resistance and even gives a nice wind boost from behind my back. I don't really have a name for it yet seeing it's still incomplete."  
"Could you teach it to me?" Temari's eyes went completely wide at the explanation.  
"Mmm, maybe when I finish it. You see, it takes a lot of chakra even for me. An entire tunnel needs to be made the size of your body. You probably won't even get close to the amount of chakra you need to make your own tunnel. Try losing some pounds first, it might help you out when I finish the technique," said Gaara while waving his hand dismissively.  
A tick mark appeared on Temari's face as she heard the last bit of the explanation. She was about to smack Gaara with her fan, only to find a swirl of sand in his stead.  
"That bastard…"

**Scene Change  
**Gaara slowly walked back to his apartment after he left Temari. Soon it will be time for him to visit Konoha again. He wondered how the rookie nine were doing. Most importantly, how was Naruto doing? Would he be how he was from years ago? Or would circumstances change him into something else. He had no clue how the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki was doing. Heck, Suna doesn't even know about the existence of the human sacrifice, although they do have suspicions. Either way, it would be interesting to see himself from another point of view. For this week, he decided to let the technique that keeps him awake at night go inactive. Any extra strength he could garner might prove useful.

**The Next Day**

"This is a C-Rank mission. I need you to deliver this message to our northern outpost near the border of wind and river country. Take Temari and Kankuro with you. Baki will be your team leader. I already told him to meet you guys in four hours by the gate. The Chunin exams are two weeks away and you may go straight to Konoha afterwards. Be sure to pack everything you need. Here are some proofs of identification for when you enter Konoha." The Kazekage hands Gaara two envelopes, one with the mission and the other with their paperwork to Konoha.  
"Thank you. Don't hesitate to call me if you need help, father," said Gaara before disappearing in a swirl of sand.  
The Kazekage blinked his eyes a couple of times. It has been a while since Gaara called him father. What has compelled him to do so? While he definitely loved his son, their relationships were strained at best. Heck, his relation with his whole family has been strained. Ever since Karura died, he never really made any attempt to connect with his children. He clutched the kunai Gaara gave him in his hand. He had no doubt that it would be useful one day. 

**Scene Change**

Kankuro and Temari were conveniently both at home. Kankuro was on his worktable, tinkering with some new poison and puppet parts. Temari was watching television while sucking popcorn up into her mouth through wind manipulation.  
Gaara, deciding to sneak up on his siblings again, slip through the windows and shouted, "Oi, Kankuro! Temari!"  
Surprisingly, neither of them moved an inch or even acknowledged Gaara. Deciding to bait them some more, Gaara said "Kankuro! Kankuro-niisan! Aniki! Temari! Nee-chan! Fatty!"  
Temari couldn't keep up with their act anymore screamed in fury "What do you want, brat?"  
"Finally! I thought you two were in a genjutsu or something. You weren't answering me when I first came in."  
"We were ignoring you. Did you get that? I-G-N-O-R-I-N-G you," said Kankuro. His eyes never left his worktable.  
"Cheh, jerks. I got a mission from dad earlier. All three of us are a team, with Baki as team leader. We have to deliver a message to the northern outpost and then head straight to Konoha afterwards for the Chunin exams. Make sure to pack everything you need."  
"We are going to the Chunin exams? Yes! I am so going to pass. That stingy old woman won't let me touch her poisons because I'm still a Genin." Kankuro eyes went into a daze. "Ah, I can see it now. Poison senbon in the mouth, poison knives on all the joints, poison gas in every compartment…"  
"Oi, you still there?"  
Snapping back to reality, Kankuro faced Gaara. "Hey, could you make me more of those fireproof seals again? I'm running out and they are too expensive at the store. I'll need tons of them for when I become a Chunin."  
"Sure, you know the usual deal," said Gaara.  
"Yeah, yeah. A week of chores for every seal I ask you to make. How come you don't make Temari do chores?" asked Kankuro.  
"It's a pity award. She still hasn't made Chunin yet even though she's so old. She failed two tests already." Gaara cupped his hands at Kankuro's ear. He didn't really make much of an attempt to hide his voice though.  
"Gaara," Temari said sweetly. "How many times have I told you, IT WASN'T MY FAULT? How would I know I get stuck with some wussy teammates that decided to bailout during the written portion of the test. I dare you to talk about this again." Temari emitted an aura similar to killing intent, but different in fundamental ways. She had no intention to kill her siblings, but she wanted to torture them in every way possible. She didn't see it as something wrong, it was justice.  
Gaara took this as a cue to leave and said "I'll see you guys by the gate in a couple of hours. Bye!" He never bothered to shut the window.  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" murmured Temari.

**Scene Change**

"Are you guys ready?" asked Baki.  
"Hai," chorused the Sand siblings.  
"Let's go."

The four ninja's dashed off through the sand toward the outpost. It was always nice to travel out of Wind country. While everybody in Suna was accustomed to the desert, the rivers in River country were always appreciated. The forests in Konoha were even better. The trip to the outpost probably only several hours of nonstop dashing to a day's worth of travel at the most. After that, it's another day's travel to get to the border of fire country and one more day to Konoha. Normally, it takes about three days to go from Suna to Konoha at ninja pace and about two weeks at civilian's speed.  
At the moment, the team was traveling at high speed and should arrive at the outpost before sundown. They could always get shelter for the night at the outpost and it was definitely way better than camping out in the desert.

**Scene Change – Konoha**

Naruto and his team had just returned from a disastrous C rank turned A rank mission in the Land of the Waves. A simple bodyguard mission turned into a battle to the death with one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

_Flashback_

_ "Can't we get a higher ranked mission already? If I have to catch that stupid cat one more time, I swear I will tear it apart along. Right, Akamaru?" A small white dog hidden in the boy's hood barked in agreement.  
"I agree as well," said Naruto. Hinata blushed a little but never made any sound.  
"Do you guys know what you are asking for?" asked Iruka. "Fresh genin like you should…"  
"I also believe my team is ready for a simple C rank mission," interrupted Kurenai. She had been getting sick of doing D rank mission all the time as well and wouldn't mind a change in pace. Besides, it's not like C rank missions were that much more dangerous than D rank. They are basically D rank missions done outside the village.  
"I see… If your jounin-sensei believes you are ready, I can allow your team to do a simple C rank escort mission," said Sarutobi. A drunken old man walked in as he continued. "This is Tazuna and he has requested us to take him back to the Land of the Waves."_

_-0-_

The mission started out abnormally to begin with. Rather than the bandits that Tazuna needed protection from, C rank missing-nin attacked the group after only a day's worth of travel. The demon brothers were easily dispatched of, but the real trouble began as the team got closer to Waves.

_"Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist," said Kurenai.  
"Oh, ho. Yuuhi Kurenai, the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha," replied Zabuza. Both were obviously familiar with the Bingo Books. "What's this? Konoha sent a team of genin out on this mission? You brats should just go home and take off your hiate. The real world has no use for wannabe ninjas like you." He leaked out a little killing intent to make his point. "I'll tell you what, if you hand me Tazuna, I'll let you all go free."  
"All three of you, stay back. This is an enemy you cannot handle," ordered Kurenai. She took up a defensive stance as well.  
"Do you really think you can beat me? Woman, you may be strong, but you are out of your league." Kurenai never budged or took her eyes off him. "Well, fine by me."_

_**Kirigakure no Jutsu **__(Hidden Mist Technique) _

_ "Eight points." Zabuza's voice resounded throughout the mist. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, vein, collarbone, kidney, heart. All of these are vital organs that could result in your death." As he said this, he blasted his killing intent all the way to unnerve his opponents event more.  
Hinata almost choked at the pressure of the situation. It might be better to end it all herself. Anything to get out of this horrid feeling. She pulled out a kunai and starting shaking rapidly. She was about to end it all when a hand was placed on her shoulder.  
"Don't worry. I'll protect you," said Naruto. "Activate your Byakugan."  
Hinata, silently thanked Naruto while activating her clan's prized eyes. Just in time too as she yelled "Sensei, behind you!"  
Kurenai heard her student's voice and quickly leapt out of the way as a massive sword cleaved the earth in half from where she was standing. She went through several hand seals and started to cast a couple layers of illusions on top of herself. It won't hide her completely from a master like Zabuza, but it should hopefully delay him enough for her to think of a plan. It was impossible for her to cast an illusion when she can't even see her opponent.  
"Wow. You have a Hyuuga with you. Main branch at that. Maybe I should thank you for not running away. The head of the heir must fetch a pretty coin."  
__**Fuuton: Daitoppa **__(Wind Release, Great Breakthrough)  
A huge gust of wind blew through the field, thinning out the mist. It was useless, however, as the mist started to thicken once more before returning to its normal state.  
"Ha ha. Did you really think that would work? Your weak wind techniques can't do anything to my mist," said Zabuza.  
"You know, for the master of Silent Killing, you sure talk a lot," said Naruto.  
"You're right," whispered Zabuza, right behind Naruto's ear. He quickly spun around with kunai in hand to deflect the blow, but was sent flying backwards due to the force.  
"That was pretty good, brat. You've got some nice reflexes. You would've end up as a good ninja in the future. It's a shame you must die here though."  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Kurenai. Tree roots started to grow and wrap around Zabuza, and Kurenai – with a kunai in hand- grew in a tree behind Zabuza. "Give up."  
"Ha! Woman, didn't I tell you that you were out of your league?"  
Kurenai's eyes widen as she heard that. She quickly slashed through Zabuza's throat; however, rather than blood, water started gushing out of the wound. "Water clone…" But if that was a clone, where is the real Zabuza? Her eyes widened as she heard Kiba.  
__**TSUGA!  
**__Kiba spun in a drill like motion and slammed into Zabuza's sword, pushing him back a little. "Ha! You don't scare us. My mom is scarier than you." He pointed at Zabuza with his chest held up high. Although, the wet stand on his pants betray his confidence. "Let's go Akamaru." He through a food pill at Akamaru and yelled out his clan's technique._

_**Jūjin Bunshin **__(Beast-Human Clone)_

_Kiba's features grew more feral and wild-like while Akamaru transformed into a perfect replica of Kiba._

_**Gatsuga! **__(Dual Piercing Fang)_

This time, both Kiba and Akamaru started spinning at high speeds and headed toward Zabuza's chest. They were no match for the Zabuza though as he brought his sword down into a slashing motion while coating his swing with chakra. Kiba was sent flying back with a huge gash across his body.

Kurenai could smell the blood in the air and knew Kiba was either in critical condition or dead. She was helpless though in this mist and couldn't find Zabuza. Hinata was still too scared to do enough with her eyes. Naruto… where was Naruto?

_**Fuuton: Daishinkuu **__(Wind Release: Great Vacuum)_

A big vacuum appeared in the center of the mist, sucking everything into it. Kurenai and Zabuza had to apply chakra on their foot to avoid being sucked into it. The mist, however, was completely gone leaving a clear view for everybody.

"Sorry, that technique took me longer than I thought it would." Naruto immediately jumped over to Kiba, stopping the bleeding the best he could for now. He needed more time to completely stabilize Kiba, but at least he could prevent him from dying before they drive Zabuza off. Kurenai immediately casted an three layered illusion on Zabuza before he could target either Tazuna or her students. Luckily, the swordsman wasn't very good at dispelling illusions ( a weakness many ninjas share) and allowed time for Kurenai to kill him. Just before she landed the finishing blow, however, a couple of senbons landed on his neck, knocking him to the ground. 

"_I thank you for your assistance. I have been chasing Zabuza Momochi for the past month now. It was thanks to you and your students that I could finally kill him," said the hunter-nin. "I shall take my leave now."  
"Wait," said Kurenai. "Won't you dispose his body here and now?"  
The hunter-nin cursed under his breath at the woman's intelligence. He had to quickly summon an ice wall to deflect incoming shurikens before Shunshining away._

_-0-_

The group later went back to Tazuna's house in the waves. The backup that Kurenai requested for after defeating the demon brothers arrived and helped dispatch Zabuza later on. At the moment, they were reporting to the Hokage about their mission success.  
"I see. Good job Team eight. Zabuza's bounty will be distributed between the dispatch team and yours. The shares will be determined through rank as nobody landed the killing blow. That is all. You may all take the rest of the day off," said Hiruzen Sarutobi.  
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," said Kurenai. "Alright, let's go team. I'll treat you all some food."  
"Yes! You're the best, sensei." Kiba pumped his fist up into the air.  
"Thank you," mumbled Hinata while poking her index fingers together.  
The Hokage decided to cut in at this point before Naruto said anything. "Actually, Kurenai, could you and the rest of your team go eat first? I have something I want to discuss with Naruto."  
"Hai," replied Kurenai. She promptly left with Kiba and Hinata following behind her.  
The aged leader turned his head back toward Naruto again. His tone turned a little gentler as he faced the child. "How have you been lately?"  
"Everything has been going well. My teammates are all good ninjas."  
"I see." Sarutobi closed his eyes in deep thought. "Kurenai has already nominated your team for the Chunin exam. I have no doubt she plans on informing all three of you later today. I know for sure you will pass the test. And when you do, come back to me and I'll tell you a secret I've withheld from you the past twelve years."  
Naruto didn't know what the secret was, but he had a pretty good guess. "I won't disappoint you, Hokage-sama."  
"You may go."  
"Hai." Naruto disappeared in a traditional Konoha Shunshin.  
"That boy, he is growing up so fast…" murmured Sarutobi.

**Scene Change  
**Team eight met later that day at a barbeque store owned by the Akimichi clan. Coincidentally, team ten was eating there as well.  
"Yo, Naruto!" A plump boy said while plopping a piece of meat into his mouth.  
"Hey, Chouji," replied Naruto.  
"Do you guys want to sit with us? There's plenty of room here," offered Asuma. It would also be nice if there was another jounin to split the bill with. He felt bad doing this to Kurenai, but she's got plenty of money after the bounty from Zabuza.  
"That's fine with me. How about you guys?" Kurenai turned around, asking the rest of her team for their opinions.  
"I'm ok with anything," said Hinata.  
"Same here," agreed Naruto.  
Kiba had already sat down with team ten and started eating.  
"Well, I guess we are all in agreement."

Everybody sat down and broke off into smaller conversations with each other. Ino gossiped with Hinata a little, Chouji and Kiba ate relentlessly. Shikamaru and Naruto both had a bored expression on their face, but their chopsticks never stopped moving either. Kurenai somehow got closer and closer to Asuma as the time passed, but never did anything that would embarrass herself in front of her students. It was when everybody finally finished eating, the instructors spoke up.  
"I actually have something to tell you guys," said Asuma,  
"Me too." Kurenai knows that Asuma had nominated his team as well for the Chunin exam and they were both about to inform their students. "You see, the Chunin exams are a little less than two weeks away. Both Asuma and I nominated you guys to take this test. Now, I will tell you all right now that it is not uncommon for deaths to occur during the exams. You will be fighting each other and genins from other countries. Although this exam should be relatively safer because this exam will be hosted here in Konoha."  
Hinata looked a little unsure with herself. Shikamaru and Naruto still had a bored expression as they either knew or figured out they will be in the exams. Kiba just pumped his hands into the air.  
"Yosha! I'm going to be a Chunin. Than my sister can't …" Kiba stopped when he saw everybody was staring at him.  
"Anyways, I'd like to remind all of you that this is your own decision. If you don't want to participate, you do not have to. You all have two weeks to think about this. We will not be doing any missions above D rank during this time period to allow you to train a little more." Asuma had to suppress an urge to pull out a cigarette.  
Hinata spoke up this time. "What do these exams test you on?"  
"The exams are different every year. Although, there is always a tournament at the end of the exam after all the unfit candidates are fished out. You don't have to win the tournament, but the more skills you can show off, the better your chances at the promotion," answered Kurenai.  
As there seemed to be no more questions, Asuma spoke up, "Ok. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask Kurenai or me. I'll see my team tomorrow at nine. I have to go now." Asuma picked up the bill and placed some money beneath it. He quickly walked out afterwards.

The rest of the group talked a little longer before everybody started departing, one by one. Kurenai was the last to leave, and just before she left, she noticed Asuma only left half the payment. "Stingy idiot," Kurenai mumbled under her breath.

**Scene Change- 3 days later**

Gaara and the group arrived at Konoha that day. At the gate, two Chunin said, "Halt, state your name and purpose in Konoha."  
Baki stepped forward for the team and handed their verifications for the Chunins to examine. "I am the jounin sensei for Team Baki and we are here to participate in the Chunin exams."  
"I see. These verifications are legitimate. You folks are here a little early though. The Chunin exams won't start for another ten days. But, you are welcome here and can find some lodgings two streets down on your right. Enjoy your visit." The Chunin with a bandage across his face said the last part perfectly, showing his years of practice. He returned the verification papers back to the Sand team.  
"Thank you. May we walk around the village as well? Or are there places that are off limits," asked Baki. Since they were early, it would certainly be boring if they can't at least explore the village a little.  
"Most of the village you are allowed to venture at your own discretion. Obviously, do not enter any homes without permission. In addition, training grounds one through ten have been reserved for the any ninjas from other villages for the Chunin exams. The other training grounds are restricted unless you are accompanied by a Konoha ninja. Any more questions?"  
"No; thank you for your assistance. Let's go team," said Baki.  
The sand team walked away from the gate. Shortly after, Baki split up from the rest of the team and started to explore the village. He had his own mission to complete.

**Scene Change**

The sand siblings found their lodgings relatively quickly - especially since Gaara seemed to have some sort of innate sense of direction that brings them exactly where they want in Konoha. It was a nice apartment with two bed rooms, a kitchen, and bathroom. Temari and Kankuro left their unessential belongings in the apartment while keeping their ninja equipment with them. Gaara, of course, never have any of these problems as he keeps everything in storage seals on him.  
It was after they left their lodgings and started exploring the village when Kankuro ran into a little kid.  
"Hey, kid. Watch where you are going," Kankuro sneered. "Don't you know how to treat your elders?" Kankuro picked up the kid by the back of his shirt and hoisted him up to eye level. The puppet user had some sort of weird superiority complex toward people – not including Temari and Gaara. He enjoys picking on others. The little kid, on the other hand, just looked completely frightened. He had a long blue scarf that reaches all the way down to his foot and goggles resting on the top of his head.  
Gaara was about to stop Kankuro from hurting Konohamaru when a rock suddenly flew from a tree straight at Kankuro's head. "Oi, let him go," said a raven haired boy.  
"Why should I? This kid ran into me," said Kankuro.  
The boy in the tree stood up, sticking on the branch through the use of his chakra. On his back, the Uchiha clan symbol hung proudly. "He is a Konoha citizen and I am a Konoha shinobi. It's as simple as that."  
Kankuro started to make a witty comeback, but was stopped by Gaara. "Kankuro, let him go."  
"Fine, fine." The puppet user dropped the little kid down on the ground, who quickly took the chance to scurry away.  
Sasuke eyed the red head cautiously. Everything about him from his posture to the way he talks emanates power. "Oi, you with the red hair, what's your name?"  
"Don't you know that it's more polite for you to introduce yourself before asking somebody's name?" Temari decided to cut in.  
Gaara held his hand out in front of Temari. "It's ok." He turned to face Sasuke again. "I'm Sabaku no Gaara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha Sasuke."  
Sasuke was shocked. How did this kid know his name? Maybe he is more famous than he thought. "Hn. Why are you three in the village?"  
"Are you stupid?" asked Temari. "Don't you know about the Chunin exams? Ninjas from all over the elemental countries are coming to Konoha."  
Sasuke seethed a little at being called stupid, but kept his cool nonetheless. He was about to make a retort until he saw Uzumaki Naruto walking toward them. That blond kid was another enigma. At the academy, he always held back during spars, but managed to beat him every single time. Naruto disappeared for half a year at one point, but when he came back, he still stayed ahead of Sasuke in every subject. Sasuke pushed himself to his limits in training, and eventually got perfect marks in everything. He still did not make Rookie of the Year due to losing a fight with him at the final tournament though.  
Naruto eyed his previous siblings closely. Temari and Kankuro were relatively the same as he remembered, but he knew there was definitely something different with this world's Gaara than before. For one, he didn't have a huge gourd behind his back. And his eyes, his eyes didn't scream of madness or insanity. Instead, they were deep with experience and power. He definitely has to make contact with them now.  
"Hello. I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He made a quick bow. "And you are…?"  
"Temari."  
"Kankuro."  
"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara scrutinized every detail about Naruto. This was definitely a clone of himself from before. Naruto wore his headband on his forehead like most Konoha ninjas. He has navy color clothes on and brown pants. On the side of his hip was a large pouch that medic-nins used. He wore an excess amount of bandages around his arms and overall blended in very well with other ninjas. Definitely not how Gaara used to be.  
"I take it you three are here for the Chunin exams?" Naruto continued as he already knew the answer. "Say, do you want to go get something to eat? I'll show you around the village if you want."  
Temari and Kankuro looked a little hesitant, but Gaara decided to agree for all of them. "Sure."  
"Ok, follow me. I'll take you to my favorite restaurant," said Naruto.  
The four ninjas left the vicinity, leaving an annoyed Uchiha behind in the tree.

**Scene Change**

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! What can I get for you?" recited Teuchi.  
Gaara's eyes widened as he heard Teuchi's voice. How could he have forgotten about the food of the gods? It was impossible. He almost wanted to cry.  
"The usual please," said Naruto.  
"I'll take the same," said Gaara. He had to make up the twelve years of no ramen somehow. This was a good time to start.  
"You sure kid? Naruto over here eats a lot," said Teuchi.  
"I'll be fine," answered Gaara.  
Kankuro and Temari both ordered one bowl of shrimp ramen each.  
"Here you go! Six miso ramen and two shrimp ramen." Teuchi expertly passed three miso ramen to Naruto, three to Gaara, and one shrimp ramen each to the remaining two.  
"Mmmm, this stuff is really good. The soup is just excellent," said Kankuro as he happily slurped the noodles.  
"I agree." Temari was already drinking the last of her soup by this time.  
"Ha, ha. Of course! I've been working on this soup for twenty years now. I've got the best ramen in all of the Elemental Nations," boasted Teuchi.  
"Three more please!" ordered Naruto cheerfully. Ramen always seem to bring him in high spirits.  
"Coming right up!"  
Next to Naruto, was Gaara sulking as he stared at his noodles. He almost looked ready to cry. "I'm full…" he murmured. Gaara had barely finished a bowl and a half.  
"I'll take them from you!" declared Naruto. He was about to reach his hand over to grab Gaara's bowl when he was suddenly slapped on the back of his hand.  
"No! I mean, I'll take them to go," said Gaara.  
"Oh. Geez, I was going to pay you back. Just trying to help you out." Naruto rubbed the back of his hand carefully.  
"Three miso ramen," said Teuchi to his favorite customer.  
"Thanks!" Naruto slurped down the noodles at inhuman rates. Gaara just watched in the corner in envy.  
A couple minutes later, the four ninjas decided to leave the ramen stand. Teuchi happily cleaned up the stack of fifteen bowls of ramen along with the cash. If only Naruto came every day…  
As they left the stall, Gaara said to his siblings, "Could you guys leave Naruto and me alone for a little bit? I have something I want to talk to him about."  
Temari and Kankuro both looked shocked at the serious tone Gaara was adopting, and decided to comply with his request.  
"Sure. I wanted to head home and get a nap anyways. I've been pretty tired since yesterday," said Kankuro.  
"Ya, same here. Although, I'll probably check out the weapons store they have here in Konoha. I heard the kunai they sell here are the best. I'll see you in a little bit, Gaara." Temari waved goodbye to Gaara and dragged Kankuro to go away. Something that makes Gaara go serious was probably something they don't want to mess with.  
The group broke up into two with Temari asking for directions to the weapon store and Naruto slowly walking toward his normal training ground. There was a moment of silence between the human sacrifices, but Gaara decided to speak up, "Who are you and what have you done to cause the ramen gods to forsake me?"  
It was more of a joke than anything, but there was a slight hint of bitterness regardless. Naruto just chuckled, "Well, only one person I know can be that obsessed with ramen. That's me, or should I say, former you." It was a pretty logical guess on Naruto's part. After all, Suna didn't have any Fuuinjutsu masters and former Naruto had been an aspiring seal master before he died.  
"You may be right," said Gaara. "But who are you?"  
"Well, you're former me, and I'm former you." Naruto used a little sand manipulation to prove his point. It wasn't anything much, just a few grains of sand moving around. However, it was probably the best he could do. Perhaps if he trained another ten or twenty year to boost up his earth affinity he could get his sand manipulation to be in battle worthy, but for now, it was nothing more than a little trick.  
Gaara's eyes widen as he saw, without a doubt, the traces of sand manipulation. He knew who Naruto was now, and smiled at the thought that he wasn't alone in coming back to the past. "Do you care for a spar?"  
"Sure. We have to use Taijutsu only though; it would cause too much alarm if somebody saw widespread destruction in this training ground with a Suna-nin being half the cause. Not to mention, two Jinchuuriki fighting would just cause village panic."  
"Alright, chakra augmentation is ok though, right?" asked Gaara.  
Naruto's mouth curved into a grin, "Sure, if you want. I'm warning you the results won't be pretty if we have that limitation off though."  
"O whatever, it shouldn't be that bad." Gaara quickly jumped back a couple feet and got into a taijutsu kata. It was similar to the frog style, but refined and polished to suit his needs more. Naruto, on the other hand, just had his hands in his pocket, waiting for Gaara to attack.  
"Let's begin," they both chorused. In a burst of speed, far faster than any genin were capable of, Gaara appeared next to Naruto to deliver his first punch. The punch was intercepted, however, with a chop at the forearm. Gaara followed up the attack with a round house kick, but this two was blocked off with a chop.  
"Hey, if we were fighting for real, the muscles in both your left arm and right leg would be torn apart," said Naruto as they both jumped back for some distance.  
"They aren't torn now, so I don't care."  
Naruto decided to take the initiative this time and appeared right behind Gaara to deliver a punch. Right before the blow landed, a wall of sand intercepted.  
"What happened to no techniques? That's sand manipulation right there," accused Naruto.  
"I can't help it! It's automatic," replied Gaara.  
"You mean you still haven't figured out how to control your own defense yet? How pathetic. O well, I'll still beat you down to the ground." Naruto sped forward again, ready to land another punch. This time he used chakra to augment his power. Naruto circulated chakra throughout his body, aiding the contracting and expanding muscles. Right before the blow landed, he condensed chakra into a single point on his fist before. The effects were tremendous. The wall of sand that came up was no match for the fist that holds power that rivals the legendary Tsunade. The force went through even the armor of sand and caused Gaara to fly back at least 200 hundred feet. Only a cloud of dust marks the path Gaara flew back in.  
"Ow! What was that? That's Tsunade-baachan's technique," said Gaara.  
"Yep. Took me a couple years to get it just right, but I can safely use this technique in battle now. You did say we could use chakra to augment our strength, right? That's exactly what I did." Naruto had to hold back a smirk at the sight of his old body getting up after that blow. "Perhaps we should stop now?"  
"Yea, I think that's a good idea. Remind me to never get into a pure Taijutsu match with you ever again," grumbled Gaara.  
"If you want."

**Scene Change  
**Gaara was at their apartment now, resting after that spar he just had. It still bothered him that he no longer had the healing power Kyuubi always gave him. Although, there was another reason why he decided to stop the spar though; he has been feeling uneasy the entire day now. Something was going to happen, but he just couldn't finger what it was. To put his mind on something else, Gaara decided to work on some seals again. Those always managed to distract him enough.

**Scene Break **

The Kazekage was having a bad day. There had been so much to deal with lately. Orochimaru came up to him a week ago offering a temporary alliance in order to take down Konoha. He even said all the spoils of war will go to Suna besides the last Uchiha and the forbidden scroll. It was a very tempting offer, but the Kazekage had to refuse. Even if they do managed to win, there was no telling that Sound would honor their part of the bargain. In addition, by breaking a treaty with Konoha like that - at the Chunin exams too – none of the other major villages would ever become allies with Suna again. If war broke out against Suna after they had just finished Konoha – which would most definitely cost a lot of their ninjas- Suna would fall.  
Nevertheless, he did order Baki to scout out Konoha a little in case they do join up with the Sound. Of course, it was also entirely possible they decide to just protect their allies instead. It was a tough choice that would depend heavily on the situation. This was a matter the Kazekage had to take into his own hands.  
The Kazekage accepted the invitation to view the Chunin exams. In fact, he had already started his journey to Konoha with several of his trusted bodyguards. The pace he went to Konoha was slow; however, as he took time to visit all of his outposts to check up on their status. It would do good to make sure his borders were as secure as possible. Everything seemed to be going fine until Orochimaru appeared again.  
"We meet again, Yondaime Kazekage." Orochimaru stood in front of him with five of his own bodyguards. One was bald with a large body; another had six arms behind his back. There was a red haired girl that can't seem to keep her mouth shut and two stoic ones behind her. Those two seemed the most dangerous.  
"What are you doing here? I already denied your offer to attack Konoha." The Kazekage placed his arms on his weapon, ready to attack at any moment.  
"Ah, yes. I seem to remember that. You see, however, it would be very wonderful for us to have the Sand to attack with us during the invasion. I can already see it, Sand shinobi rushing forward into battle, casting their wind jutsu at all their enemy. Sound would provide support at every turn. Luckily, you have already been preparing for war."  
"You mean using our ninjas as meat shields, right? Anbu, take down his bodyguards. I will deal with Orochimaru myself," ordered the Kazekage.  
"Ku,ku,ku. Always the rash one. Sound Five, annihilate the Anbus." Orochimaru just stood back while his subordinates rushed forward to battle. The big bosses just stared at each other, gauging their opponent's strength.  
The Anbus, however, were in a tight situation. They easily had the upper hand at first, until their opponents all morphed into some strange beast hybrid. They were still no match for them though, until the quiet kid with the bones started attacking as well. It took him but a second to stab a hole through one of the Sand Shinobi. Nonetheless, the Anbu didn't become the Kazekage's bodyguards by being weak. One managed to stick some poison into the girl with the flute while the fat one was cut up by a wind jutsu. Actually, the Anbus almost seemed to be turning the tide until the six armed boy decided to finally attack.

**Accuracy: 100 percent.**

A golden arrow flew at high speeds, piercing two Anbus in one shot. They had no chance to react, and were dead within seconds. The remaining Anbu, seeing his teammates' demise, growled in fury. He didn't have time to mourn though and threw five explosive tags around in order to unleashed his most powerful technique in his arsenal.

**Fuuton: Raputa- no Mureboukou** [Wind Release: Raptor Swarm Assault]

Using the time the explosive tags gave him, he finished his long string of hand seals. The Anbu placed his palms in front of him, facing his opponents. He blew a gust of wind with his mouth and enhanced the force with his hands. The flow of wind morphed into multiple raptors and started to slash at their enemies. The birds sliced up the spider boy in many places, and gave a big gash across the one with two heads. Sadly, the Anbu never got to see the results of his technique though, as a bone came out of where his heart was.  
The Kazekage grimaced at the sight of all his lost subordinates. He kept his focus up though, and never lost track of where Orochimaru was. The Snake Sannin still remains as the biggest threat.  
"Sound five, you may retreat for now,"  
"But, Orochimaru-sama," said Kimimaro in surprise.  
"Be quiet. I can handle the Kazekage easily. Now disappear."  
"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." Kimimaro gave a quick bow, before slinging Tayuya and Kidomaru on his back. Sakon did the same with Jirobo and they all left via Shunshin.  
"You are going to regret sending your bodyguards away, Orochimaru," said the Kazekage.  
"They will be fine, I don't want to lose my bodyguards before the invasion starts," said Orochimaru, never acknowledging the fact that he may be the one in danger.  
No more words were exchanged though as both ninjas prepared their attacks. The Kazekage sent a huge gust of wind straight at Orochimaru, who quickly countered with a great fireball.  
The huge fireball engulfed the wind, growing even stronger as it was sent at the Kazekage. The Kazekage used wind chakra to boost his movements and appeared right next to Orochimaru. "Fuuton: Bouseki Kaze [Wind Release: Spinning Wind]." He grabbed both the arms of Orochimaru and a swirl of spinning wind engulfed them. The Kazekage expertly caused the wind to only cut his target, destroying it into pieces. "It's over."  
"Ku,ku,ku. That was certainly impressive. I'm afraid it wasn't enough though." Sure enough, what used to be Orochimaru's remains was nothing more than a pile of mud now. The real Orochimaru appeared a few paces back and proceeded to pulling out the Sword of Kusanagi, the legendary Grass cutter, out of his mouth. "But you were right when you said this was over."  
The Kazekage tried to move, but he found 2 snakes wrapped around his ankles. Both of them had already injected their paralyzing poison into each leg. There was no escape. In his last hope to survive, he sent chakra down the Kunai that Gaara gave him.

**Scene Change**

Gaara bolted upright when he felt a chakra signal calling for him. This was his father's. There was no doubt it, Gaara was needed. He quickly left a seal in the kitchen, before flashing through two hand seals. Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand.

-0-

Orochimaru lunged forward, ready to stab the Kazekage through his chest. The sword was only a second away from impact, before a wall of sand appeared and protected the Kazekage.  
"Orochimaru," snarled Gaara. He had his hands up already, ready to use the infinite sand the desert offered.  
"O ho? The weapon of sand makes an appearance. I am wondering how you made it here, but no matter. It may be a good idea to put a dent into Akasuki's plans anyways." Orochimaru knew the power the Sand Jinchuuriki had in the desert, and immediately initiated a string of hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!" Smoke erupted everywhere, and in the middle of it, a huge purple snake appeared.  
"Orochimaru, why have you summoned me? This will cost you a hundred sacrifices you know." Manda glared at Orochimaru. This was all for intimidation purposes though, and they both knew it. It was improbable Manda could actually do anything to Orochimaru, but at least this keeps both of them content. One hundred sacrifices weren't too hard for Orochimaru to get after all.  
"I just need your help with this Jinchuuriki. It should be quick though, he is still young," said Orochimaru.  
Gaara really missed being able to summon the toads now. However, he did have one technique that made up for the lost. After all, one had to fight size with size. He quickly swiped some blood on one of the twelve seals on his belt. A clone appeared next to him, before disappearing instantly. A flood of nature chakra entered his body, turning the black circles around his eyes orange – the mark of a sage. He spread his chakra around, encompassing the feeling of sand into his very being. With a clasp of his hand, he cried out

"**Bijuu Henge **(Tailed Beast Transformation)

Smoke appeared again, and in the middle of it, the Ichibi's body stood in all his glory. It had occurred to Gaara at one point that he was one of the few Jinchuuriki that haven't attained control over the form their bijuu had. It took him many trials and errors to finally figure out a way to grow into the size of the bijuu. Granted, it was a lot harder than normal due to the additional seals he placed on his, but it was still possible. This technique was almost like the Henge that Gaara used when he was younger, but with more power. Normally, to transform into something the size of a Bijuu would be impossible due to the mental strain it would take to keep up the transformation. But by focusing on the essence of the beast sealed in him, it becomes possible. The additional mass this body has was gathered through the sand from underground.  
Orochimaru's eyes widened at the sight. This kid had already fully mastered his Bijuu? Of course, it was just as likely that Shukaku was in control. Either way, this was bad. Fighting Shukaku in the desert was almost asking for death. "Manda, we are retreating." The snake boss nodded in his in agreement. He also knows how dangerous this fight has become.  
"You're not getting away!" roared Gaara in his new body. In his right arm, a gigantic Rasengan started to form. His left arm was spinning rapidly around the chakra ball, imbuing wind element into it. The sphere turned into more of a shuriken shape, a shuriken the size of Shukaku's head. With a thrust, Gaara threw the technique straight at the fleeing Orochimaru.

**Fuuton: Dai Rasenshuriken **

Orochimaru gasped at the technique that was flying at him. The chakra in the technique was tremendous. Even Manda won't survive a hit from that. Flipping through several hand seals, he quickly summoned his strongest defense. "Kuchiyose: Sanjū Rashōmon (Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon)." Three large gates appeared from the ground, standing between the Rasenshuriken and Orochimaru.  
It was useless. When the Rasenshuriken hit the first gate, the gate immediately disappeared down to the molecular level.The second gate followed the same fate, although at a slower rate. One could call the third gate lucky, as it only suffered a gigantic hole in the middle. The frame was still there, barely.  
A trail of dust marked the path the technique was traveling. Orochimaru had no choice but to dodge the technique now, and he had almost managed to too. Of course, right when he was jumping away, the technique grew in size, completely disintegrating his left arm. Manda was hit as well and had to go back to the summoning world to avoid death.  
"Damn you, Jinchuuriki of Shukaku. I will get you the next time." Orochimaru quickly tunneled underground as he left a mud clone to continue talking, hoping to avoid any other attacks.  
This action did not go unnoticed by Gaara though, as he said "Fool, going underground in the desert. I will destroy you." He slammed both his paws down onto the ground and screamed out

"**Sabaku Taisō (Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral)" **

A shockwave was sent throughout the ground, compressing all the sand underneath. A massive earthquake started as well as the technique finished. Slowly, Gaara started to shrink again, until he was the size of a human again. He unsealed another one of his clones to give himself some extra strength for now.  
"Did you get him?" asked the Kazekage.  
"No, he managed to escape. I'm pretty sure I got his other arm and one of his legs though while he was underground. That bastard is slippery." Gaara stared at the condition his father was in. "We need to get you to a doctor."  
"It's no use; I don't think I'll make it. The closest village is a couple hours walk, and I doubt their medical facilities are good enough to treat this poison," explained the Kazekage.  
"Just leave it to me." Gaara flashed through a couple hand seals this time, channeling his chakra toward the seal back at Konoha. "This may take a minute."  
In a gulf of sand, both the Kazekage and Gaara were transported back into the kitchen of their apartment in Konoha.

**Author's Note**

As promised, I updated as fast as I could to try and cover up the embarrassment of last chapter. Anyways, this was the first real fight scene I wrote, and I don't really know how well I did. If you could review and tell me how I did good/bad, it would be greatly appreciated. Anyways, until next time!


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